Pacquiao irritating hosts but packing in fans
Manny Pacquiao has ducked and weaved, has been accused of being late and rude, and of thinking more about a Floyd Mayweather rematch than his WBO welterweight world title fight against Jeff Horn.
Pacquiao and Horn easily made weight at yesterday’s weigh-in, and the Filipino senator did a quick TV interview before making a swift exit from Suncorp Stadium to eat.
Locals have grumbled that Pacquiao attended an official pre-fight lunch for only a few minutes on Friday, and Horn’s camp accused Pacquiao earlier in the week of holding up the official news conference and then constantly texting on his mobile phone through the event.
But what nobody can complain about is the pulling power of the 11-time world champion. More than 50,000 tickets have been sold for the outdoor bout this afternoon, and the so-called “Battle of Brisbane” is expected to set records for pay-perview in Australia. For the first time since 2005, a Pacquiao fight hasn’t been restricted to pay-per-view in the United States. ESPN will broadcast the fight to an estimated 95 million US homes in prime time Saturday night.
“This is the time I give back to the fans,” Pacquiao said, adding that he’d suggested “let’s do free TV for the fans,” to Top Rank promotor Bob Arum. “I have to give a good show for them. This is it. I’m excited.”
Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 knockouts) is defending the WBO title he won on points against Jessie Vargas last November. That was one of the two fights he’s had — the other was a points win over Tim Brady in April last year — since he lost the 2015 mega-fight to Mayweather.
Legendary trainer Freddie Roach has predicted a knockout against Horn, saying Pacquiao is perfectly prepared and the fight should be “short and sweet”. Pacquiao hasn’t won by knockout since 2009.