11-22-2015, 12:02 PM
Boxing: Australia’s Jeff Horn hopes for fight with Manny Pacquiao
October 13, 2015 1:25pm
GRANTLEE KIEZAThe Courier-Mail
ALL-TIME boxing great Manny Pacquiao will visit Australia next month and waiting for him will be an offer to fight rising Brisbane star Jeff Horn.
Pacquiao is due to arrive in Melbourne on November 16 for speaking engagements there and in Sydney.
The 36-year-old featured in the richest fight of all time in May when he lost over 12 rounds against Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas.
The bout generated $600 million with Pacquiao, now a Filipino congressman, earning more than $100 million as his share.
Horn, 27, a Brisbane schoolteacher now rated the No.7 contender for the WBO world welterweight title, is about to become a worldwide television hit with his promoter Duco Events organising major deals to showcase his talents internationally.
On Thursday night, Fox Sports will have a live telecast of his Auckland bout with Argentina’s Alfredo Blanco and another world-rated opponent is scheduled for December. Horn is undefeated in 12 pro fights after making the quarter-finals at the London Olympics.
His Melbourne-based matchmaker Stuart Duncan said he would approach 10-time world champion Pacquiao about facing Horn in what the Filipino great plans as a farewell to the sport next April.
“Right now, (Britain’s) Amir Khan is the favourite to get the fight with Manny which will be a massive event on the world stage,” Duncan said.
“But Jeff is fighting hard to be in the mix. He’s beating world-class opponents in great, exciting fashion and he has the talent to beat any fighter in the world. I will be making an approach to Manny about a fight with Jeff next year.”
Horn said his plan has always been to fight the very best in the world and if a Pacquiao fight could be arranged he’d jump at the opportunity.
“I’d love it,” Horn said.
“Even if I didn’t get the win but gave him a good fight it would help me build my profile on the world stage. But I give myself a chance against anyone. I’ve got a great trainer (Glenn Rushton) and his motto has always been to bite off more than you can chew and then chew like mad.
“I won Australian titles as an amateur and pro after only a few bouts when people thought I was crazy taking the fights so I’m up for any challenge.”
Horn’s fight with Blanco on Thursday night will be on the same card as one of the biggest ever trans-Tasman battles with Australia’s former world heavyweight title challenger Kali Meehan going against New Zealand’s world No.6 Joseph Parker.
Horn has been sparring Queenslanders Les Sherrington and Dennis Hogan, who both have major fights next month.
Sherrington faces unbeaten American Antoine Douglas in Las Vegas on November 6 while Hogan is planning to face WBA interim junior-middleweight world champ Jack Culcay in Germany after their September 26 fight in Berlin was postponed.
HORN V BLANCO, FOX SPORTS 1, 7PM, THURSDAY
@Kieza_cmail
October 13, 2015 1:25pm
GRANTLEE KIEZAThe Courier-Mail
ALL-TIME boxing great Manny Pacquiao will visit Australia next month and waiting for him will be an offer to fight rising Brisbane star Jeff Horn.
Pacquiao is due to arrive in Melbourne on November 16 for speaking engagements there and in Sydney.
The 36-year-old featured in the richest fight of all time in May when he lost over 12 rounds against Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas.
The bout generated $600 million with Pacquiao, now a Filipino congressman, earning more than $100 million as his share.
Horn, 27, a Brisbane schoolteacher now rated the No.7 contender for the WBO world welterweight title, is about to become a worldwide television hit with his promoter Duco Events organising major deals to showcase his talents internationally.
On Thursday night, Fox Sports will have a live telecast of his Auckland bout with Argentina’s Alfredo Blanco and another world-rated opponent is scheduled for December. Horn is undefeated in 12 pro fights after making the quarter-finals at the London Olympics.
His Melbourne-based matchmaker Stuart Duncan said he would approach 10-time world champion Pacquiao about facing Horn in what the Filipino great plans as a farewell to the sport next April.
“Right now, (Britain’s) Amir Khan is the favourite to get the fight with Manny which will be a massive event on the world stage,” Duncan said.
“But Jeff is fighting hard to be in the mix. He’s beating world-class opponents in great, exciting fashion and he has the talent to beat any fighter in the world. I will be making an approach to Manny about a fight with Jeff next year.”
Horn said his plan has always been to fight the very best in the world and if a Pacquiao fight could be arranged he’d jump at the opportunity.
“I’d love it,” Horn said.
“Even if I didn’t get the win but gave him a good fight it would help me build my profile on the world stage. But I give myself a chance against anyone. I’ve got a great trainer (Glenn Rushton) and his motto has always been to bite off more than you can chew and then chew like mad.
“I won Australian titles as an amateur and pro after only a few bouts when people thought I was crazy taking the fights so I’m up for any challenge.”
Horn’s fight with Blanco on Thursday night will be on the same card as one of the biggest ever trans-Tasman battles with Australia’s former world heavyweight title challenger Kali Meehan going against New Zealand’s world No.6 Joseph Parker.
Horn has been sparring Queenslanders Les Sherrington and Dennis Hogan, who both have major fights next month.
Sherrington faces unbeaten American Antoine Douglas in Las Vegas on November 6 while Hogan is planning to face WBA interim junior-middleweight world champ Jack Culcay in Germany after their September 26 fight in Berlin was postponed.
HORN V BLANCO, FOX SPORTS 1, 7PM, THURSDAY
@Kieza_cmail