MANILA — The promotional company handling the Australian boxer being groomed to fight Manny Pacquiao has booked a venue in Brisbane for April 22, a report said on Friday.
Duco Events director Dean Lonergan, who handles undefeated welterweight Jeff Horn, hopes to sign a conditional agreement with Top Rank Inc. CEO Bob Arum to lock the bout between the two boxers.
Lonergan's group has reportedly reserved the Suncorp Stadium in Horn's hometown of Brisbane.
Horn is ranked No. 2 by the WBO, whose welterweight championship is currently owned by Pacquiao.
Pacquiao was being set up to take on Terence Crawford, but Pacquiao wanted a guaranteed $20-million fee for the bout, prompting Arum to look for alternatives.
"You'd have to say right now because of our relationship with Bob Arum, Jeff Horn is a Duco/Top Rank fighter, it makes sense to keep the fight in-house," Lonergan said.
The 28-year-old Horn, who has a record of 16-0-1, has yet to beat an opponent of Pacquiao's caliber. He said the Filipino world champion could be his biggest break.
"Is it the right time? You could say that at any point," he said in a separate Boxing Scene report. "I've got the youth on my side and Pacquiao's 38 now.”
"I think over his last couple of fights, I've seen him go down a little bit. He's still got very, very good movement, very good skill. But I think he has dropped just slightly, which is a lot at that level."
(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)
0 comments :
Post a Comment