Jeff Horn lets Manny Pacquiao know he’s ready for a May 2019 bout
Jeff Horn of Australia, left, and Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, right, lands a left to during their WBO World Welterweight title fight in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, July 2, 2017. AP
MANILA, Philippines—Jeff Horn is ready to step up and face Manny Pacquiao for a potential rematch, if it what he teases comes to fruition.
The Australian teacher-turned-prize fighter expressed through Instagram his willingness to fight the legendary Filipino with Pacquiao eyeing another match potentially in May.
“That’s a coincidence because May suits me perfectly also,” said Horn (19-1-1) in his Instagram account.
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Horn does have the upper hand against Pacquiao (61-7-2) albeit through a controversial unanimous decision win to take the WBO World welterweight title back in July of 2017.
Pacquiao has since bounced back from that shock loss with back-to-back wins, the first of which to take the WBA 147-lb title from Lucas Matthysse via knockout in July 2018 and the last one a unanimous decision victory over Adrien Broner in January 2019 to retain the strap.
As per Manila Bulletin, Pacquiao told Premier Boxing Champions—the company that handles the best welterweights—that a May fight suits him since this is the time the Philippine Senate goes into recess to accommodate the 2019 midterm elections.
The problem, however, is that the other welterweight World champions have scheduled fights in March and April.
Shawn Porter, a former sparring partner of Pacquiao’s, will defend the WBC title on March 9 while Errol Spence will stake the IBF championship on March 16.
Terrence Crawford, who is with Top Rank, will go up against Amir Khan for the defense of the WBO belt.
Keith Thurman, the owner of the WBA Super World welterweight belt, was just coming off a majority decision win over Josesito Lopez on January 26.
This leaves Horn, who owns two regional titles from WBA and WBO, as a viable opponent for Pacquiao but the Filipino shrugged off his former foe’s wishes.
“I was willing to do a rematch with them but they didn’t want to. And now that I am back on top and they are coming off a loss, they are asking for a rematch. No way,” said Pacquiao in the Manila Bulletin report.
