Dean Lonergan, the promoter of WBO welterweight champ Jeff Horn, is mad as hell. For although we all read last week how a rematch between Horn and Manny Pacquiao had been agreed to for Brisbane, Australia in November, Pac Man has reportedly had a change of heart.
According to a story in The Daily Telegraph, Pacquiao wants to wait until next year for the rematch and this has prompted Lonergan to “seek a fight with someone else if Pacquiao isn’t available in November.”
Going into the July 2 fight between superstar Manny Pacquiao and largely unheralded challenger Jeff Horn, practically everyone saw it as pretty much a straightforward win for Pac Man. And when promoter Bob Arum spoke about how unbeaten Horn had a decent shot at scoring the upset most fans put this down to the Top Rank boss simply doing his utmost to sell the fight.
The eagerly awaited return fight between welterweights Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao is “almost there,” according to Top Rank boss Bob Arum. Ever since the July 2 win scored by big underdog Horn, fight fans, and Pacquiao and Horn himself have wanted the rematch.
Horn wants it to prove his upset decision win, derided by many as a bad decision, was no fluke. Pac Man wants it because he wants revenge. The fans want it because the first fight was so good. Now Arum says all signs point to November 12, once again in Brisbane, Australia (Arum had earlier said it would simply be too hot to fight in Australia at this time of year, but there are plans for a canopy to be put in place which will protect both the ring and the first ten rows of seats from the blistering heat).
Though recently crowned WBO welterweight champ Jeff Horn recently told The Sydney Telegraph that his in-the-works rematch with Manny Pacquiao will very likely take place in Australia, the superstar former champ says he very much wants the return bout to take place in his homeland of the Philippines, or failing that in Dubai or in the US.
With negotiations underway for a Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao rematch – the target date being November, once again in Australia – Horn and his team have made one thing clear: they will call for random drug testing to be implemented ahead of the fight.
While the sport of boxing has lost one big rematch with the retirement of former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko, it seems there is a good chance we will see a Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn rematch even if we will not now see an Anthony Joshua-Klitschko II.
According to Top Rank boss and Pac Man promoter Bob Arum, who spoke with The Manila Times, talks have begun for the rematch, and Arum says it’s likely the sequel to one of this year’s biggest boxing upsets will take place in the same place: Australia.
Jeff Horn is one of the hottest and most talked about fighters in boxing right now, courtesy of his big, big upset win over ageing superstar Manny Pacquiao. While we fans await “The Hornet’s” next move – will it be a return meeting with Pac Man, a Horn Dream Fight with “Money” Mayweather – British fight fans also await the ring return of Amir Khan.
As we approached the July 2 welterweight title defence WBO ruler Manny Pacquiao was set to make against unbeaten but largely unknown (outside of Australia) Jeff Horn, most of us were in truth not all that excited about the fight.
Pac Man was widely expected to have too much of just about everything apart from youth over his unbeaten, underdog of a challenger, and Manny’s “world tour” was expected to have a nice, explosive start; with Pac Man likely scoring his first KO victory since way back in 2009. Instead, we witnessed The Upset of The Year (so far) and we were also treated to a far more eventful and exciting fight than anyone could have predicted.
Though he lost his last fight (albeit controversially) 38 year old superstar Manny Pacquiao is not yet ready to call it a career and leave the ring. Writing a short message on his twitter page, Pac Man had the following to say:
“I love this sport and until the passion is gone, I will continue to fight for God, my family, my fans and my country.”
So, the huge upset huge underdog Jeff Horn scored in that hugely controversial decision win over Manny Pacquiao was legit after all. How do we know this, because the WBO had the July 2 fight re-scored, with five independent judges viewing the action.
The results of the re-score had Horn winning by a 7 to 5 margin in rounds, or 115-113 – which is the exact same score Horn won by via two of the official judges on fight night. Horn, who never doubted the validity of his win, is pleased with the results of the re-scoring process all the same.