Jeff Horn, the “Fighting Schoolteacher” from Brisbane, has announced that he will face up against boxing legend Manny Pacquiao on April 23 for the WBO welterweight title.
The fight, announced early this afternoon at a press conference at Brissy‘s Regatta Hotel, is set to be the biggest in Australian history. Organisers are pushing for the event to take place at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, although scheduling conflicts might turn out to be its undoing:
certainly looks like Brisbane Roar are going to be impacted by the Horn/Pacquiao fight at Suncorp Stadium, if they make #aleague finals https://t.co/pQf6uTJAcn
— Vince Rugari (@VinceRugari) January 11, 2017
Pacquiao, 38, is the current three-time WBO welterweight champion and possibly the biggest name in boxing. He’s won 59 of his fights, drawn two and lost six, and has won pretty much every title possible, including championships across five different weight classes. He’s also currently serving as a senator in the Phillippines government, despite copping heavy criticism (and being dropped by Nike) for his homophobic comments early last year.
Horn, on the other hand, is a 28-year-old former teacher. While he’s won all of his 17 fights so far, and managed to knock out South African icon Ali Funeka last month, he’ll still go into the fight in April a clear underdog. Undeterred, he told the ‘Herald Sun’:
“It’s my time. I’m getting Pacquiao at the right moment. I know I have the power to hurt him. If I land a clean shot on Pacquiao when he’s coming forward I know I could hurt him. That’s what I’m hoping for, to catch him as he rushes in.”
Seems like some heavy blurring of the line between optimism and fantasy to this combat-ignorant punter, but regardless of outcome, this one will be a fight for the history books.
Source: Herald Sun.
Image: AAP.
