MANILA, Philippines – A senator versus a schoolteacher for the WBO welterweight crown.
Yes, if Bob Arum pulls it off, that will be the unlikely and crazy scenario between Manny Pacquiao and Australian Jeff Horn in April.
Pacquiao is scheduled to return to the ring soon in one of his last couple of fights, and his promoter is pitting him against Horn.
The schoolteacher is hardly known in the professional boxing circle, and his ring record shows that he’s won 16 of his 17 fights with a draw.
But news of his possible fight with Pacquiao had Horn dropping his lesson plans and heading straight to the gym to train.
“At the moment we’re training to be ready for anyone at any time,” he told News Corp Australia.
“We’d fight Pacquiao next week if Bob Arum wants it,” Horn’s trainer, multi-millionaire Glen Rushton, was quoted as saying.
Horn, who will turn 29 on Feb. 4, is a veteran of the 2012 London Olympics where he won two matches. The following year, he turned professional.
Arum wants Horn against Pacquiao, who had agreed to face undefeated junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford for $20 million.
Arum had also wanted Pacquiao to face Crawford, his rising star at Top Rank. But it seems that Arum can’t give Pacquiao the $20 million.
Pacquiao must have priced himself out of the Crawford fight, and now Arum is pitting the senator against Horn, a schoolteacher, at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Tentative date for Pacquiao’s next fight is April 22, which falls right in the middle of a long Senate recess.
Pacquiao, 38 years old and 59-6-2 with 38 knockouts, is at the tail-end of a long, colorful career with world titles in eight weight classes.
Arum thinks that Pacquiao can do two fights this year, but said that after that he doesn’t know what will happen.
The Filipino superstar turned pro in 1994 when Horn was only six years old and too young to box.
Aside from Brisbane, Arum is looking at different sites to hold Pacquiao’s next fight. It could be Vegas, Mexico, England or the Middle East.
Arum wants Pacquiao against anyone, any where.