Pacquiao not keen on calls by Keith, Horn
Keith Thurman and Jeff Horn are both calling for a rematch with Manny Pacquiao while Marcos Maidana, the former world champion who hasn’t fought in five years, wants to come out of retirement to face the Filipino superstar.
Pacquiao’s right-hand man is looking elsewhere.
Sean Gibbons told The STAR yesterday that the poundfor-pound legend from the Philippines is not inclined to face Thurman or Horn in a rematch, and Maidana, who has ballooned in weight, is out of the radar.
“No. Nothing to prove,” said the new president of MP Promotions in referring to Thurman, who slugged it out with Pacquiao for 12 rounds last July 20, and tasted his first defeat in 31 fights.
“He had his shot. Game over,” said Gibbons.
Thurman was a tough customer, and Pacquiao had likened the 30-year-old to the heavy-handed Antonio Margarito.
“You know, I got a lot of respect for him. I still think that the fight was nothing more than a draw. You know, I don’t really think that he won the fight,” said Thurman in teasing Pacquiao.
“Where’s the contract, Pac? Sign the contract,” he told TMZ.
But Gibbons said Pacquiao, now busy with his senatorial duties, isn’t going to bite, neither against Thurman or Horn, who beat Pacquiao in a debatable contest in Brisbane in 2017.
“Horn who? Another desperate guy,” said Gibbons.
“We want (Floyd) Mayweather,” said the international matchmaker, who dropped the names of Mikey Garcia and Danny Garcia as potential opponents for Pacquiao for early next year. “But we want Floyd,” he said. Mayweather, meanwhile, had posted a video clip of himself at a boxing gym, working on the double-end bag.
He must be up to something.