By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank is reportedly interested in having his next fight televised on free television on April 22 rather than on PPV. It’s unclear if this is Arum’s own idea or if this is something Pacquiao is on board with. The last we heard, Pacquiao wants a $20 million guarantee to fight Arum’s fighter Terence Crawford.
If Pacquiao wants that kind of money, then it’s hard to understand why Arum is talking about wanting him to fight on free television. It doesn’t make sense.
If Pacquiao is going to fight on free television, the question is how much money will he be receiving? Is something that HE wants or is it something that Arum wants? It would be sad if Pacquiao were being asked to fight for considerably less money against someone that the U.S fans have never really heard of before.
Arum is talking about wanting to possibly match Pacquiao against Australian fighter Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs). So is Arum’s idea of Pacquiao fighting on free television a way of getting publicity for Horn to turn him into a big name in the U.S? I’ve seen Horn fight, and I don’t rate him as being anywhere near the same league as Errol Spence Jr. or Keith Thurman.
I even rate Danny Garcia as a better fighter than Horn, and I don’t rate Garcia very high. Why should Pacquiao fight someone on free television when he can still make good money by fighting on PPV? I don’t understand that. If Pacquiao is on board with this move by Arum, then so be it. As long as Pacquiao wants to fight on free television, then it’s all good.
Arum said this to RingTV.com about Pacquiao fighting on free television rather than on PPV:
“One thing I’m looking forward to — the possibility of putting the fight on free television in the United States.,” said Arum about Pacquiao. “If we go to Australia, certainly he’ll be a leading candidate. He’s a great looking kid, speaks very well. He’s undefeated. He’s a tough guy. He has a great back-story, being a school teacher, so it makes a lot of sense.”
If this is a move by Arum to expose Jeff Horn to the U.S audiences to make him a star, then I don’t see it as worth it. I’ve seen Horn fight, and I think he gets destroyed if he gets tossed into the ring with someone like Spence, Thurman or Kell Brook. Top Rank is short on world class welterweights now that Pacquiao is nearing retirement, and Tim Bradley looks like he’s seen better days. Jessie Vargas was just beaten for the second time, and I can’t see him ever beating the top guys in the division. Horns like Vargas 2.0 in terms of talent. I don’t see the talent there.
If Arum wants to put someone on free network television like NBC or something like that, then he should stick Crawford in with Horn. Scratch that. Arum should stick Crawford in with Errol Spence and see how well he does against him. If nothing else, Crawford would at least get seen by a lot of boxing fans. As for Horn, I think Arum should put him in with Brandon Rios or Diego Chaves. I think that’s Horn’s level. I don’t know that Horn can beat either of those guys, because he gets hit a lot and he’s not a huge puncher. Rios and Chaves are good fringe contenders. If Horn can’t beat them, then Arum can go in another direction and start looking for better talent. I don’t think it’s a good idea to use up one of Pacquiao’s valuable remaining fights of his career fighting Horn.
Horn looks big for the welterweight division. I wonder how much this guy is rehydrating to after he weighs in. He looks like Saul Canelo Alvarez when he’s inside the ring He’s pretty chunky. I wouldn’t risk Pacquiao fighting a young kid that the Casual boxing fans have never heard of in Horn. Pacquiao is almost 40. He should be fighting high level guys, not new comers to the pro came like Horn.
I think Arum should talk to Errol Spence’s manager Al Haymon and put Horn in with him. At least Arum can find out where Horn is at. If Spence knocks Horn out quickly like I think he will, Arum can save so much time. He’ll know where he’s at with Horn. It’s better this way than to have him as one of Pacquiao’s last remaining fights, and then the fight maybe doesn’t do well in terms of interest from the boxing fans.