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Who is Jeff Horn? Manny Pacquiao’s Next Opponent
By: Matthew N. Becher
Earlier this week it was reported that Manny Pacquiao signed his part of the contract to defend his WBO welterweight title on July 2nd against undefeated prospect Jeff Horn, of Australia. Very little is known of Horn in the boxing world, even to the most knowledgeable of follower. Here are a few insights into who Jeff Horn is and why he was given the opportunity to fight one of the best boxers of an era.
Jeff Horn is a 29 year old, undefeated boxer from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Horn was one of his nation’s top fighters and competed in the 2012 Olympics for Australia. Horn made it to the Quarterfinals in 2012, and turned pro a year later.
Horn sports a professional record of 16 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw. 11 of his fights have come by way of the knockout.
He has fought every one of his professional fights either in Australia or New Zealand. His biggest wins came last year, when he defeated former champions, Randall Bailey and Ali Funeka.
Horn is ranked as the #2 rated welterweight by the IBF and the WBO, which is how he got the fight with Pacquiao. He is the #1 contender to the WBO belt that Manny currently holds.
A mix of criticism has come on the announcement of this fight. One, is that Pacquiao is just making a money grab towards the end of his career, and that Horn is no real threat to defeat the legendary Filipino. Others say that it is fine to see a fresh face in the division and one that earned his right at the title by climbing the sanctioning bodies ranking system.
As a fighter, Horn is young and a hard hitter. He will be vastly outclassed when it comes to experience, speed, power, his corner and almost every other aspect of the fight. Only time will tell if this is a legit match up or not.
The one thing that is for sure is, it will sell big in Australia.
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