Townsville Bulletin

Horn’s ‘ thanks Manny’

- GRANTLEE KIEZA

BOXING great Manny Pacquiao will arrive in Brisbane with an entourage of 200 people on a chartered jet on Saturday night ready to make $ 10 million at Suncorp Stadium – more than 20 times the purse for his Aussie opponent Jeff Horn.

Pacquiao has made more than $ 660 million from boxing over the last 20 years including $ 165 million from his loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2015.

But Horn ( above) said he was not overawed by Pacquiao’s reputation nor the prospect of fighting one of the greatest fighters of all time before more than 50,000 people at the ground and a global audience of close to a billion. He’s not even upset about the difference in pay.

The fresh- faced undefeated slugger from Acacia Ridge went through a blistering 16 rounds with fitness coach Dundee Kim at West End yesterday and said he was more than ready to take Pacquiao’s world title.

“He’s arriving on Saturday and my message to him is relax and enjoy your stay in Brisbane because on July 2 I’m taking your world title,’’ Horn said.

“But I have to first say ‘ thank you’ to him for giving me the chance. I never thought I would ever get the opportunit­y to fight for his world title and certainly not before a packed crowd at Suncorp.

“This is a huge event because of the star power of Manny Pacquiao. He’s one of the greatest boxers in history and people in Australia have supported the fight because of his name and the chance to see an Aussie against him. But I believe this is the start of a new era in boxing and a changing of the guard.’’

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