Jeff Horn thinks he can KO Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 01/23/2017 - Comments

Image: Jeff Horn thinks he can KO Pacquiao

By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum might have a live one in unbeaten Jeff Born (16-0-1, 11 KOs) as the next opponent for his top money fighter Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) for their math-up on April 23. I’m sure Arum doesn’t want Pacquiao to lose so soon after him making his comeback against Jessie Vargas, but things happen.

Horn, 28, seems to think he’s got the ability to beat the 38-year-old Pacquiao. That would obviously be terrible news for Arum if Pacquiao loses to Horn in a small money fight before he can face unbeaten Terence Crawford or Vasyl Lomachenko, two fighters that he’s talked about wanting to match against him.

“I know I have the power to hurt Manny,” said Horn to Fox Sports. “He’s been knocked down and he’s been knocked out and I’m a heavy puncher so I believe I have a real chance to bring the world title to Australia.”

Pacquiao and the Australian Horn are expected to face each other on April 23 at the Suncorps Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. The Stadium fits 55K fans, and it’s possible that the two of them could draw a large number. Whether they draw 55,000 boxing fans is unknown. I don’t think it will matter though. If it turns sour for Pacquiao with him ending up losing the fight, then it’s hard to imagine him wanting to continue his boxing career. That means there would be a big hole where Pacquiao once was when it comes to PPV money he was bringing in for Arum’s Top Rank company. Arum can certainly insist on Crawford’s fights being on PPV, but I don’t think that the boxing public is going to buy his fights. The same goes for Arum’s other fighters like Oscar Valdez and Lomachenko. They’re both good fighters, but I don’t see the fans wanting to pay to see those guys in large numbers – ever. There’s something about PPV fighters that sets them apart from other guys.

You can tell when a fighter has got the potential to be a PPV star or not. You can’t try and ramrod a fighter down the throats of the boxing public and assume that they’ll happily pay to see them. That’s why I don’t think it matters if Arum feeds Pacquiao to Crawford and Lomachenko. Pacquiao could lose to both of them, as well as to Horn, and I don’t think it’s going to transform any of them into PPV attractions. I just see the fans saying, ‘Oh look, Pacquiao’s a shot fighter. He can’t even beat Crawford and Lomachenko.’ If Arum is really in a hurry to turn Crawford into a PPV star, then he’s going to need to give his career a shot of adrenalin by throwing him into the ring with Gennady Golovkin or Errol Spence Jr. and let him try his best. It would like with Kell Brook.

Horn beat Ali Fukneka and Randall Bailey in his last two fights, and he looked good against neither. Horn was knocked down by both of these aging fighters, and he was lucky that those guys weren’t a little younger and bigger.

I think Arum is making a mistake of matching Pacquiao against Horn. Pacquiao did not look like the fighter he once was in his last fight against Jessie Vargas. Pacquiao didn’t have the explosiveness to his offense that he previously had, and he couldn’t put his punches together. Pacquiao was throwing a lot of single shots, and he looked timid. I rate Horn as being a better fighter and a bigger puncher than Vargas. Horn might knock Pacquiao cold.