Manny Pacquiao wants Jeff Horn rematch for next fight
By David Rouben
Manny Pacquiao wants to run it back with Jeff Horn and avenge the controversial loss from his record, and he’s even willing to go back to Australia.
Manny Pacquiao’s loss to Jeff Horn may go down as the most controversial loss on his record. It’s even worse than the Timothy Bradley loss — at the time, Bradley was 28-0 and had already beaten established guys such as Devon Alexander. Horn’s loss was even more of a robbery since he could easily point to home cooking. In no way, shape or form did Horn win that fight 117-111.
But despite the favorable judges, Pacquiao wants to run the fight back, according to his manager Bob Arum. And just like the first fight, he wants it to be in Australia and have it air on ESPN.
Arum said “”Manny doesn’t want to retire. He wants the rematch, so we are going to do the rematch. Manny told me he wants to do the rematch but now we are looking for the window that satisfies the Senate.”
The most logical time frame, then, would be in November since that’s when they have recess for the Philippines Senate. Arum has already eliminated having the fight take place outdoors, another advantage for Horn, since it’ll be summertime in Australia by then.
Now that Horn isn’t such a wild card, Pacquiao should have a better idea of how to train for him. He’ll likely go with the same game plan that saw him successfully avenge his loss to Bradley, although ideally he won’t want to leave it in the hands of the judges. Of course, that’s easier said than done, since Pacquiao hasn’t earned a true stoppage since 2009 against Miguel Cotto.
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The loss has now seen Pacquiao lose four of his last nine fights, a far cry from what we’ve become accustomed to seeing. But even if Pac-Man wins this rematch, the last thing we want to see is for a third fight to materialize. Unfortunately, since ESPN is going to carry this rematch, that probably means Stephen A. Smith and Teddy Atlas will be back on the broadcast unless fans start a petition.