Hall of trainer Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, both agree that former world champion Jessie Vargas is a better fighter than 2012 unbeaten Australian Jeff Horn.
Pacquiao, who works with Roach and Fortune, defends his WBO welterweight title against Horn on July 1 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. A crowd of 50,000 is expected at the event - with many of them in support of Horn.
After announcing his retirement following a win over Timothy Bradley in their trilogy bout last April, he announced his return a few months later. The Filipino superstar dropped and dominated Vargas last November in Las Vegas to capture the WBO belt.
Horn is a tremendous underdog in the contest. He's never faced anyone close to the level of Pacquiao - who fought a who's who of the top superstars in the last twenty years - including Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito, and many, many more.
Pacquiao is the only fighter to capture world titles though eight weight divisions.
Some insiders have compared Horn to Vargas - but not Roach.
“Jeff Horn is far different and Jessie (Vargas) is a better fighter than him,” Roach said to The Manila Times in an interview. “But I have only seen Horn for a couple of fights and nothing special.”
Fortune agrees with Roach's position on the subject, but he also states that Pacquiao is training hard and taking Horn very seriously.
“Jeff Horn might be tougher and stronger but overall Jessie Vargas is the better fighter. Jessie got more skills,” said Fortune. “If Jessie and Horn will fight, I guess Jessie will scratch him off. He (Horn) is hungry and got nothing to lose. One punch can change everything so I believe Manny won’t take him lightly.”