By Edward Chaykovsky
Australian 2012 Olympian Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs) believes that he's got more than enough power to score a knockout victory over WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
Horn is scheduled to fight Pacquiao on April 22 [April 23 in Australia], likely somewhere in Australia. Brisbane is the frontrunner to host the fight.
Pacquiao has not been knocked out since his fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012. In that contest, Pacquiao was dropped in the third and then he was knocked out cold with a huge counter in the closing seconds of the sixth.
Since the fight with Marquez, Pacquiao has only been beaten once - a twelve round unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May of 2015.
Pacquiao has dominated Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas in two fights since then. The fight with Horn is a part of a planned "worldwide tour" - which is being constructed by Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Horn's biggest wins have been over aging former champions like Randall Bailey and Ali Funeka. Many experts view the contest as a complete mismatch on paper.
“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.’’
Jeff Fenech, a former world champion and Australia’s most successful fighter, is giving Horn a very big shot to pull off an upset of Pacquiao - and Fenech even believes that he can do it by knockout.
“I knew that Manny had big gaps in his defence,’’ Fenech said. “He’s fast but he can be hit and hurt. Jeff has got to be on his chest, punch in close and wear him out and he has that size and strength advantage to do it."
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