By Jim Dower: Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) successfully weighed in at 146 pounds on Friday for his title defense of his WBO welterweight title against Australian challenger Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs) for their fight on Saturday night at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. The taller 5’9” Horn weighed in right at the welterweight limit at 147.
During the face off, the 29-year-old Horn towered over the 5’6 ½” Pacquiao. Horn looked a lot bigger and younger than Pacquiao. Horn is going to try and impose his size on the former eight division world champion Pacquiao. If it works, Horn will be crowned the new WBO welterweight title. It’ll make Horn a lot of money in Australia, and he can probably quit his job as a school teacher. Pacquiao has said that this is a fight that he cannot accord to lose. There’s too much riding on it.
“We have a really good plan for this fight,” said Pacquiao. “There are no tomorrows if I don’t win today.”
That’s the problem for Pacquiao. When you take on someone that’s not well thought of or well known in the boxing world like Horn, you’re stuck if you lose to him. There’s no other way of looking at it other than Pacquiao being over-the-hill if he gets beaten by Horn. This is a fighter that would have problems against the top fighters in the 147lb division.
If Pacquiao loses to Horn, there would be no other alternatives but retirement. Pacquiao wouldn’t get the rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he gets beaten. He would be faced with the reality that he blew it.
Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum would have blown it as well. Instead of putting Pacquiao in with a really good welterweight that would give him a good excuse if he were to lose, he’s picked out a guy that isn’t seen as one of the best in the division in Horn.
You can argue strongly that Horn wants this fight more than Pacquiao at this point. Pacquiao has already made his fortune in boxing, and he’s now just a part time fighter. Horn hasn’t made the big money yet, and this is his big opportunity to bring himself some riches by beating Pacquiao. A rematch between them would make Horn a lot of money.
Even if never does anything beyond the Pacquiao fight in his career, Horn will make his mark if he can beat him. Pacquiao needs a win here so that he can keep his hopes alive for a rematch with Mayweather. There’s always a possibility that Mayweather could change his mind about not wanting to fight Pacquiao again if the mood strikes him. That won’t happen if Pacquiao loses to Horn. He needs a win over him to keep a glimmer of hope alive for a second fight with Money Mayweather.
What we don’t know is if Horn can fight at the top levels of the 147 lb. division. His promoters haven’t put him in with the good opposition as of yet. This will be Horn’s first fight against a good opponent since he turned pro in 2012. The World Boxing Organization didn’t seem to mind that Horn hadn’t fought with contenders. They have him ranked at No.2 based off his wins over old timers Randall Baily and Ali Funeka.
Horn was knocked down by both of them. He still won, but it wasn’t the type of performances that you like to see from a fighter ranked so highly by the WBO. Either the WBO’s rankings are a jumped mess or Horn is a lot better than he showed against Funeka and Bailey. Fighters are usually rated on their performances. When they do well, they get ranked high. If they struggle, then they don’t get rated highly. The WBO seems to be rating Horn high anyway despite him looking bad.
Pacquiao isn’t saying what his game plan is for the Horn fight, but it’s likely something along the lines of him putting a lot of pressure on him. Horn likes to come forward and land shots and then get away without getting hit. Pacquiao will need to either time Horn when he’s coming forward or chase him down to land shots. Horn isn’t going to make it easy on Pacquiao, because that’s not his style.
Horn doesn’t have the punch resistance for him to stay in the pocket and trade with Pacquiao for any length of time. Horn getting knocked down by limited fighters like Funeka and Bailey shows that he’s not quite world class when it comes to his chin. Horn might have some power, but his chin is not up to snuff. He’s going to need to make sure that Pacquiao does hit him otherwise this fight will end early.
Labeled, ‘Battle of Brisbane,” Pacquiao and Horn will be going at it on Saturday night on ESPN in the States. The fight will also be shown on the Super Channel in Canada.
In the co-feature bout, IFB super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas(26-1-1, 17 KOs) weighed in at 114 lbs. for his title defense against Teiru Kinoshita (25-1-1, 8 KOs). For his part, Kinoshita weighed in at 115lbs.
Other weights on the card
Shane Mosley, Jr. 160 lbs. vs. David Toussaint 160 bs.
Michael Conlan 126 lbs. vs Jarrett Owen 126 lbs.