New York, NY (June 21, 2018) Undefeated world-ranked lightweight contender
“Ferocious” George Kambosos Jr. (14-0, 8 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, will return to battle in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday, July 15 (Sat. July 14 in the United States) in a 10-round clash against JR “Star Boy” Magboo (17-1-2, 8 KOs), of Batangas, Philippines, it was announced today by DiBella Entertainment.

“I’m thrilled and very excited to get back in the ring on Manny Pacquiao’s undercard,” said the 25-year-old Kambosos. “Manny and I have had some excellent training sessions for this camp and I can’t wait to fight in Kuala Lumpur. I know that Magboo has lost only once, but I’ll be well prepared after training with Manny to be victorious.”

“I would like to thank Manny Pacquiao for giving George Kambosos this great opportunity to fight on his undercard in Malaysia,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “All of us at DiBella Entertainment believe that Kambosos is a star with the potential to become a champion. This is a great opportunity for him to showcase his talent on the undercard of a future hall-of-famer and a legend.”

Kambosos vs. Magboo will take place at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the undercard of the WBA welterweight world title bout between boxing legend and challenger Manny Pacquiao and champion Lucas Matthysse.

Currently ranked #11 by the World Boxing Organization and #14 by the International Boxing Federation, the all-action Kambosos made his triumphant United States debut on May 5, with a stunning first-round knockout of Jose Forero at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT.

For the last few weeks, Kambosos has trained and sparred alongside Pacquiao as he prepares to win another welterweight world title. Trained by former heavyweight contender Justin Fortune, Kambosos also worked with Pacquiao in Los Angeles last summer in preparation for the Filipino’s clash with Jeff Horn.

A sports star in his native Australia, Kambosos stopped Krai Setthaphone in the ninth round on October 13, 2017, in front of a huge crowd headlining at the Melbourne Pavilion in Victoria, Australia.

Most recently, Magboo stopped Prell Tupas in the first round on May 13, in Marilao, Philippines.

Social Media/Kambosos
Twitter: @GeorgeKambosos
Facebook: George.Kambosos
Instagram: GeorgeKambososJr

COVERAGE to the “Fight of Champions” mega-showdown between belt holder
Lucas Matthysse and challenger Manny Pacquiao is already pegged at 170
countries and is fast shaping up to become a blockbuster of an event
dubbed as the World Cup of Boxing.

From Asia to South America, to Europe and Africa, to the Middle East,
Asia Pacifica, Oceania and the Far East and the Caribbean, fans all
over the world will be treated to a whole day of sports festivities on
July 15 starting in the morning and throughout the afternoon.

The Pacquiao Vs Matthysse event will be beamed live at 12 noon from
the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur (around 8 PM, July 14 in the US and
Mexico) via satellite.

With World Cup fever undeniably in the minds of many, boxing also has
its version of the World Cup, with the Philippines and Argentina vying
for the World Boxing Association welterweight belt in the main event
featuring the legendary Pacquiao and Matthysse.

Other championship bouts presented by promoter Manny Pacquiao of MP
Promotions include the WBA world title matches between Venezuela and
China, (Carlos Canizales Vs Lu Bin for the WBA light flyweight belt),
as well as South Africa (Moruti Mthalane) against Pakistan (Muhammad
Waseem) for the International Boxing Federation flyweight crown.

In the main supporting bout, it will be Mexico against the Philippines
as the WBA, through president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. and ratings
chairman Jose Oliver, has just sanctioned the fight between Mexican
Edivaldo Ortega (26-1-1) and Jhack Tepora (21-0, 16 KOs) of the
Philippines for the WBA featherweight title.

Host Malaysia will feature its best fighters Muhammad Farkhan, Theena
Thayalan and Alman Abu Baker battling fighters from Thailand and 2
Indian boxers, respectively, in the undercards stacked deep by the
organizers, who are trying to impress a worldwide audience.

Other countries represented in the event include Australia and Japan.

LONDON (8 June, 2018) – One of this summer’s biggest battles will take place live and exclusive on BoxNation when the legendary Manny Pacquiao steps up to face Argentine knockout sensation Lucas Matthysse for his WBA welterweight world title.

Taking place at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on July 14th, eight-division world champion Pacquiao will be looking to bounce back in style following his shock defeat to Australian ace Jeff Horn.

However, in Matthysse he faces one of boxing’s most formidable punchers, who, with a record of 36 knockouts in 39 wins, always comes with bad intentions.

He displayed that in his latest win when he stopped the previously undefeated Tewa Kiram in the eighth round to win the vacant WBA welterweight world title.

Both men are two of the most exciting, all-action fighters around, with fireworks guaranteed when they meet in the ring next month in their 12-round contest.

“[Matthysse] is a very aggressive fighter. I am not worried about his style. My worry is I need to get 100 per cent conditioned – the stamina, the power and the strength to survive the 12 rounds,” Pacquiao said.

“You will see a young Manny Pacquiao throwing a lot of punches, and more footwork, head movements, side by side [motions] – that’s my goal to achieve for this fight. It’s going to be a great night,” he said.

35-year-old Matthysse can’t wait to get into the ring and has promised BoxNation fight fans that he will make sure Pacquiao is given no respite.

“We’re focused very much on this fight, and people will see the same Lucas Matthysse as always, the one who always looks for the action. It’s a fight that I like because of our similar styles and because we are of the same height,” Matthysse said.

“I expect the same Manny Pacquiao as always. He is a respectable champion, but I’m a champion as well. I’ve been fighting for a long time. I know he has a lot of experience as well.

“It will be a great fight, and I expect to see the same Manny Pacquiao I watched on television. Now I’m going to see him in the ring. This is something very big for me and my career,” he said.

Jim McMunn, BoxNation Managing Director, said: “Manny Pacquiao v Lucas Matthysse without doubt has the makings for a very special and exciting fight. These are two fighters who like to come forward, press the action and can really punch. BoxNation subscribers will be in for a real treat when these two meet live and exclusive on July 14th.”

BoxNation is available on Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Apple TV/ online at watch.boxnation.com, via apps (iOS, Android, Amazon) and TV Player for just £12 a month. Buy now at boxnation.com.

– ENDS –

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Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Canelo vs Golovkin.

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By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Despite mounting doubts about his reflexes, speed and durability, there’s still plenty of power in Manny Pacquiao’s name. Celebrity is the last thing to go these days. But don’t mistake Terence Crawford for Pacquiao. Crawford doesn’t have any of Pacquiao’s celebrity. He’s not exactly the nice guy Pacquiao is, either.

Not that Crawford cares.

For now, at least, Crawford is not seeking Pacquiao’s kind of global celebrity or personal likability. It sounds as if another wicked stoppage would be enough. And that’s exactly what Crawford is pursuing Saturday night at the MGM Grand in his welterweight debut against Jeff Horn, once an unknown Aussie who is in Las Vegas this week because of his controversial decision over Pacquiao in Brisbane nearly a year ago.

“I’m not Manny Pacquiao,’’ Crawford said Thursday at a news conference in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’m bigger. I’m stronger.

“I’m in my prime. And that’s gonna show, come Saturday. A lot of people are comparing how he pushed around Pacquiao. But that’s not me.’’

Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), who is ranked No.2 behind Vasiliy Lomachenko in most pound-for-pound debates, is heavily favored – minus-950 at Vegas books late Thursday — to take the 147-pound belt that Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) took from Pacquiao last July. Some foresee the ESPN+ featured bout (6:30 pm PT/9:30 pm ET) as a showcase for the world’s next dominant welterweight. Errol Spence might have something to say about that. But more on him at a later date.

“We’re here to take over at 147,’’ Crawford trainer Brian McIntryre said. “Jeff just happens to be there, happens to be the first victim.’’

But there’s a theory that Horn’s size, rugged strength and bullish tactics will make the Top Rank-promoted Crawford regret that he decided to venture into a heavier division.

“We think Top Rank erred,’’ Horn promoter Dean Lonergan said. “We think Top Rank put Crawford in against the wrong guy.’’

It’s a matter of record that Top Rank put Pacquiao in against the wrong guy last summer. In a long, bruising 12 rounds Down Under last July, Horn punished Pacquiao in ways that nobody has. But it was a different Pacquiao. The Filipino Senator looked tentative. The fighter in all of those Bruce Lee-like poses from a decade ago look like a shrunken version of who and what he had been. He sure didn’t look like himself and it’s safe to safe he didn’t look anything like the Crawford Horn figures to see Saturday.

It’s as if we’re only beginning to see Crawford’s many dimensions, including an evident like for the brutal task of breaking down an opponent. There’s a mean streak in eyes that elicit their damage with hands that Crawford delivers with equal speed and accuracy. Right or left doesn’t matter. Crawford uses both, leads with either in an almost seamless switch, with lethal precision. Then, he smiles. It’s a deadly combo.

Yeah, Horn is bigger. Crawford is shorter by about an inch, a listed 5-foot-8 to Horn’s 5-9, which was more than three inches taller than Pacquiao (5-5 ½). The more significant tale on the tape, however, is in reach. The shorter Crawford has that advantage by two inches, 70 to Horn’s 68, in an edge that figures to multiply very quickly with a two-handed attack.

FORMER General Santos City native Nonito Donaire Sr. was tapped to
lend his expertise and beef up Manny Pacquiao’s think-tank in
preparation for the Filipino’s title bid against Lucas Matthysse on
July 15 at the Axiata Arena in Malaysia.

A week after opening training camp, Pacquiao added Donaire to help out
in plotting tactical plans against Matthysse, the reigning WBA
welterweight champion from Argentina.

“Donaire will serve as one of the assistant coaches,” said Pacquiao,
who did two trial rounds with the mitts with the father of former
world champion Nonito Donaire (Junior). It was Donaire Sr. who trained
and honed his son, who later won multiple former world championships
in three weight divisions.

“So far, so good. I am happy with my current team,” said Pacquiao, who
took two days off on Saturday and Sunday to rest and relax, coming off
a controversial loss last year in Australia against local brawler Jeff
Horn.

Pacquiao went scuba diving Sunday and was refreshed to do his road
work the morning after.

Pacquiao is trying to have an all-Filipino line-up in his bid to win
his 11th world title against a formidable opponent who has knocked out
36 of his 39 wins or a whopping 92 percent ratio. Matthysse has only
lost four times in his career.

Another former Philippine national team coach based in the US was
scheduled to join Pacquiao’s coaching staff should he pass the
standards set by the Filipino champion.

Long time friend and confidant Buboy Fernandez would still act as head
coach along with assistant trainer Raides “Nonoy” Neri.

Pacquiao is still about to name another team member soon, the person
who will help him in his strength and conditioning, to complete the
cast.

MANILA–World Boxing Association welterweight champion Lucas “La
Maquina” Matthysse is set to arrive in Manila on April 18 to formally
accept the challenge of eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao at the
City of Dreams Grand Ballroom here.

Pacquiao, the challenger, expressed his elation as his MP Promotions
company has completed preparations for the two-city press conference
and media tour ending in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on April 20.

Dubbed “Fight of Champions,” the mega-fight will usher in Pacquiao’s
debut as a fight promoter at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur
featuring three other world title fights in the undercard.

“It is all systems go for the Pacquiao Vs Matthysse fight,” said
Pacquiao, who is hoping to equal if not surpass the expectations
leading to the grandiose Muhammad Ali-Joe Bugner fight which was also
held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July 1975.

“We have assembled the biggest fight card Malaysia has been waiting
for in the last 43 years since Ali-Bugner,” added Pacquiao.

Matthysse, the dangerous 36-year-old champion from Argentina who
tallied 36 knockouts out of his 39 wins, and against only four losses,
has started training with Joel Diaz. Diaz also trained Timothy
Bradley, whom Pacquiao has faced thrice in the past.

“This is the fight I have always wanted. The opportunity to fight a
future Hall of Famer such as Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao inspires me to
work harder than ever to earn a victory for my fans. I know that it
will not be easy. But I will defend my title with honor and represent
my country Argentina with pride,” said Matthysse.

Pacquiao is also set to welcome Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO
Oscar Dela Hoya, the promoter of Matthysse. “This early, we would like
to thank the people who have made this event happen and I thank all
boxing fans for their support,” said Pacquiao.

Pacquiao will be joined by his new promotions team along with trainers
Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez and Raides “Nonoy” Neri.

Manny Pacquiao announced that he will fight on June 24th in Malaysia against possible Lucas Matthysse, but according to Dan Rafael of espn.com, promoter Bob Arum says no deal is in place.

“It’s already final I’m going to fight in Malaysia on June 24,” Pacquiao told the Manila Times. “It is against Matthysse. I’ll be ready for the preparation and it’s going to be 11 weeks.”

“For years we’ve had these proposals from people in the Mideast, whether it’s Abu Dhabi, or the Emirates, or Saudi Arabia, and we’re still waiting for the first deposit for the fight to happen. It didn’t, so now we’ve shifted our attention from the Mideast to the Far East and we’re looking for Malaysian money,” Arum said, laughing, because he has been down this road many times.

Eric Gomez, the president of Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Matthysse, told ESPN that Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz had contacted him about a possible Pacquiao-Matthysse fight but that they have not made a deal yet.

“Michael Koncz reached out to me and all we did was talk and that’s all I can say,” Gomez said. “We’re interested in the fight. It’s very preliminary.”

“If the money comes up then I’ve agreed to sign on,” Arum said. “We would handle the logistics, we would handle the undercard and we would handle the television. All they have to do is say they got the $5 million of the $15 million. That makes it legit. [But] I’m not booking my flight [to Malaysia] yet.”

Arum had offered Pacquiao a fight with faded former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado on April 14 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in the co-feature position on the card headlined by former undisputed junior welterweight world champion Terence Crawford’s move up to welterweight to challenge Jeff Horn for the title Horn controversially won by decision from Pacquiao in July.

Pacquiao, however, is said to have been stung by the offer of an undercard spot on a card headlined by a fighter most thought he defeated. Beyond that, Pacquiao has deep tax issues despite earning hundreds of millions of dollars that Arum said would keep him from fighting in the United States.

“He’s afraid whatever deal he makes with the IRS they’ll seize all the money so he can’t fight here,” Arum said. “We thought we could work it out with the IRS.”

“I like [Matthysse’s] aggressive fighting style,” Pacquiao said in announcing the fight. “That’s what I want, to entertain the boxing fans. Besides, Matthysse is not a dirty fighter and I highly respect him for that.”

After being widely rumored to be heading to Madison Square Garden, The proposed Pay-Pew-View card featuring Jeff Horn defending his WBO Welterweight title bout between Jeff Horn and Terence Crawford will be staged at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Although the fight, long in the works, has not been officially announced, Bob Arum said it is now agreed to on both sides. The site, though, will be Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas as the main event of a pay-per-view card Top Rank is putting on in conjunction with ESPN as part of their long-term deal.

“Mandalay Bay is a great venue and we’re happy to put this card on there,” Arum said. “You’ve got a lot of boxing in New York coming up, so it made sense to move the fight to Las Vegas when Mandalay Bay became available.”

Arum said that he is in the process of finalizing the co-feature between Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao, the former eight-division world champion, and former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado (38-4, 26 KOs), 37, of Denver.

Arum said there would also be another world title bout on the card. It will pit junior featherweight world titleholder Jessie Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs), 26, of Las Vegas, in his mandatory defense against hard-hitting Isaac Dogboe (18-0, 12 KOs), 23, of Ghana.

Arum said he initially was going to make that fight the main event of his April 28 ESPN card but decided to move it to the April 14 show to beef up the pay-per-view.

“That’s going to be a really good fight,” Arum said. “It’s a 50-50 fight, I think. Both guys can really hit.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the April 14th card featuring WBO Welterweight champion Jeff Horn defending against Terence Crawford plus an appearance by Manny Pacquiao is close to fruition.

The proposed Pay-Per-View show would take place at Madison Square Garden.

Crawford, during an interview at ringside on Saturday night on ESPN’s telecast of the Gilberto Ramirez-Habib Ahmed super middleweight world title fight in Corpus Christi, Texas, said, “We’re real close. I’d say 90 percent done deal. Right now, my main focus is on Jeff Horn.”

Bob Arum said he was close but then added, “But I don’t do percentages. Close is not there. There is signed contracts. But we’re working hard to get the thing done and, hopefully, we’ll get it done pretty soon.”

Besides working to finish a deal with Crawford, Arum is also working to iron out a deal with Pacquiao. One potential opponent for Pacquiao is the long-faded former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado (38-4, 26 KOs), 37, of Denver.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday undefeated Ukrainian cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) decisioned undefeated Latvian Mairis Briedis (23-1, 18 KOs) in the penultimate round of the World Boxing Super Series, in Latvia’s capital city of Riga. Their match graced no American airwaves. Saturday HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” program featured Argentine retread Lucas Matthysse avoiding his fifth career loss by jabbing to temporary unconsciousness a Thai fighter named, one second here, Tewa Kiram, in Los Angeles. These fights are juxtaposed for more than their common date.

What you had in Latvia were two undefeated titlists in a unification match that was the semifinal of a tournament to crown a unified cruiserweight champion of the world. And both hail from the former Eastern Bloc. Surely this was in HBO’s wheelhouse such that if HBO didn’t salivate at the bell Showtime should swoop in and spite-buy it, no?

No. Evidently, absolutely no. Dogged reporters might doggedly do reporting on this and uncover a sprawling, innocent mess of conflicting dates and logistics, a waterfall of prohibiting algorithms, that makes seamless sense of why none of this series is televised in the U.S., but here’s an unsolicited guess instead: Richard Schaefer.

The former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions is back in boxing and associated with the World Boxing Super Series, which seeks to do with the cruiserweight and super middleweight divisions what the Super Six World Boxing Classic started doing with the super middleweight division nine years ago. That tournament, excellent if snakebitten, sent aficionados to Showtime, who captured their allegiance from HBO and hasn’t yielded it much since. Back then boxing insiders confused Schaefer for a genius often as they confused him for an honest broker. But his eventual arch enemy, Bob Arum, had a true line of sight on him: Swiss banker.

Schaefer was an unscrupulous opportunist who brought contemporary accounting and marketing practices to boxing’s 18th-century way of doing both, which made him look brilliant, and a selfinterested operator who promoted an ethical approach to promoting while furtively selling his company out from under its namesake.

Schaefer, fired and barred from boxing three years ago, looks more like an Al Haymon toady, in retrospect, than a master of the universe. Whatever fellow World Boxing Super Series organizers had in mind when they hooked up with him, getting their tournament blacklisted from American television was doubtful it. That’s all conjecture, of course, but one needn’t be a fishnets-certified fanboy to see some irony in HBO’s broadcasting “Washed: The epic rebranding of Lucas Matthysse’s second comeback” in lieu of something at least five times better and more consequential.

With unfortunately few exceptions these days HBO’s Golden Boy Promotions cards are about ensuring biannual Canelo cash infusions and conceding that without access to Top Rank or PBC fighters it’s brutally hard to fill a boxing calendar. As the world moves acceleratingly away from both network television and America, the happy news for aficionados is our confinement to whatever American cable companies gift us now hurtles towards its proper end. Last weekend you didn’t need to blackpatch an eye to see Usyk-Briedis in gorgeous highdef well before Boxing After Dark lumbered along.

And what you saw in Usyk-Briedis was a very good prizefight that was oddly entertaining for a no-knockdowns affair. The gloves looked rightsized, in other words, to two 200-hundred-pound men, and both fighters, as the results got read, looked like they’d been punched oftenly. The right man won on scorecards that leaned expectedly Latvian in Riga; a forensic examination of results would find most points Briedis accumulated came via extralegal events and hometown support.

If Usyk is not a particularly large puncher he is a large man with excellent relative mobility, an Olympic gold medal that means an opponent’s style can hardly surprise him, and the sort of oblivious goofiness that supplies Tony Robbins’ charm. Usyk is a very good prizefighter but nothing like a prodigy.

Briedis, too, gave a professional accounting of himself – he was just the wrong the man against the wrong man. He wasn’t going to fight busier than Usyk and wasn’t likely to outbox him either; to get Usyk to settle down Briedis needed to worry him by concussing Usyk with every landed punch, and at the championship level Briedis does not hit hard enough to do that.

He does know some tricks, though. Howsoever inevitably and unintentionally came the early clash of heads between Usyk’s southpaw attack and Briedis’ forward-lean orthodox counterpunching, Usyk certainly got the worse of it. A Briedis baby-hiptoss in round 6, too, went someways toward destabilizing Usyk. Not enough is made generally of how much it affects a fighter to get dropped on the canvas via push or slip. The referee clears it of scoring consequence with a wave, and the felled man has no grogginess with which to contend, but his legs, trained for six weeks and a career precisely to stutterstep and twist in combat and spring upwards from a stool after respite, suddenly have to fold beneath their body and push upwards from a kneel. It’s surprisingly fatiguing. And Briedis followed Usyk’s rise from the canvas with more offensive enthusiasm and effectiveness than he’d shown to that moment.

Most every round before and after that was a copy of its predecessor, though only Usyk employed cruisecontrol and only for a little bit in the 12th round, at that.

This Saturday the second World Boxing Super Series semifinal happens with undefeated Russian Murat Gassiev (25-0, 18 KOs) and undefeated Cuban Yunier Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs) trading fists in Russia. That one shan’t appear on American airwaves either.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, a proposed bout between Manny Pacquiao and Vasyl Loamchenko is not in the near-future cards.

“No, we are not fighting Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao is calling out Lomachenko, who is three weight classes down the scale from him. Manny Pacquiao is 147 pounds and he’s calling out Lomachenko, who is 130 pounds. That’s insane,” said Lomachenko’s manager Egis Klimas told ESPN.

“There are negotiations now about the No. 1 pound-for-pound, which is Lomachenko,” Pacquiao said in an interview with ABS-CBN. “There are still talks on the weight, reducing the weight.”

“Look, we have our own agenda, our own road and our own plans. That’s where we’re going,” Klimas said. “There’s a lot of champions and good guys at 130 or 135 pounds. That’s where we’re going. Why isn’t Pacquiao calling out [Terence] Crawford? Crawford is moving into Pacquiao’s weight class. Why doesn’t he call out [Mikey] Garcia, who is at 140?”

“The difference is Lomachenko didn’t call out Rigondeaux,” he said. “Rigondeaux was willing and begging for the fight, so Lomachenko fought Rigondeaux. They had two gold medals each, they were both undefeated, and did that take Lomachenko somewhere? For Team Lomachenko, that fight didn’t mean anything. He beat a small guy. Even if he beat Pacquiao, they’d say he beat an old guy who was basically retired. We want to fight active champions dominating their weight classes.”

“We discussed at one point Manny and Lomachenko fighting, but Lomachenko’s father [trainer Anatoly Lomachenko] said he didn’t want him to jump up two divisions even though the fight would be at a catch weight of 140 pounds,” Top Rank’s Bob Arum said. “His father said he wanted him to first go up to 135 pounds and then maybe they’d consider a fight with Pacquiao at 140 pounds later.

“The spring would be too premature, but certainly that’s a fight that might be attractive down the road.”

BEIJING – China’s Dancing Sports, an organization at the forefront of sports development in China, and Filipino senator and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, recently inked a comprehensive agreement to develop and promote professional boxing in China.

Dancing Sports president Vincent Zhou and Pacquiao signed the agreement in an elaborate ceremony last December 2 at the Diaoyutai Hotel in Beijing which was attended by Chinese dignitaries and representatives from the Chinese media.
Part of the agreement was the establishment of the Manny Pacquiao International Boxing Academy (PIBA) in China envisioned to become an instrument to attract, train and develop Chinese world class boxers and to regularly promote professional boxing matches all over China.
“This agreement of course will definitely shower a new boxing era in our sports and will contribute to help realize our great potential in boxing,” Zhou said.
Pacquiao, who was in Bejing from Dec. 1 to 3 to also attend the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘World Political Parties Dialogue’ said, “Yesterday, I met with President Xi and Prime Minister Li Keqiang, and I am glad that the high level relationship between China and the Philippines is going further. President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative is very important, it will help countries along exchanges and cooperation at all levels across borders. It is not difficult to see that the signing of this comprehensive agreement is exactly the implementation of the two top leadership initiatives of China and an important action to promote cooperation between China and the Philippines.”
Zhou and Pacquiao jointly held its first promotion in China on September 29, 2017, a ‘by invitation only’ boxing event at the Heyuan Royal Garden Hotel in Beijing that featured Zhou’s prospect Lu Bin on the main event and undefeated former Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga of the Philippines on the main undercard.
Dancing Sports has calendared six to eight events for 2018 with initial promotion projected to be held during the Chinese New Year celebrations in February.
Among the Chinese dignitaries who were in attendance during the launching and signing ceremony included Feng Hope, secretary general of the Information Office of the State Council; Zou Yan, deputy director of the Department of the Ministry of Justice; Zhang Hong, secretary of the party committee of the Chinese Film Association; He Zhewen, director of the Anti-Doping Center of the State Sports General Administration; Zhang Wei, vice-president of the Beijing Sports University and director of the Sports Industry Office of the National Development and Reform Commission; Wang Guojun, head coach of China National Boxing Team; and Wang Tongzhou, general manager of China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group.

LONDON (24 November) – British welterweight ace Gary Corcoran’s world title bid against Manny Pacquiao conqueror Jeff Horn will be shown exclusively live on BoxNation next month.

The 27-year-old will face the unbeaten Australian at the Brisbane Convention Centre on December 13th as he looks to cause an upset in Horn’s hometown by capturing his WBO welterweight world title.

29-year-old Horn shocked the boxing world with his impressive display against the legendary Pacman this summer when his come-forward and all-action approach caught the judges’ eyes as he went onto win the world title belt via a unanimous decision.

51,000 fans crammed into Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium to cheer on the 12-to-1 underdog that day and were not left disappointed when the former high school PE teacher and 2012 Olympian dethroned the Filipino.

However, this time around he will have the odds in his favour as he returns home for his first defence against Top-10 contender Corcoran.

Nicknamed ‘Hellraiser’ the Londoner has won 17 of his 18 professional fights with just one loss – that coming against Welsh star Liam Williams.

He has bounced back well from that 11th round knockout defeat in July of last year by winning his last two fights, including a split decision victory over Larry Ekundayo in which he captured the vacant WBO Inter-Continental welterweight title.

The winner of Horn-Corcoran will be obligated to make his next defence against newly installed mandatory challenger and former light-welterweight unified champion Terence Crawford.

The American is one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters and the chance to share the ring with him will be extra motivation for both men as they look to deliver fight fans an early Christmas present exclusively live on ‘The Channel of Champions’.

Jim McMunn, BoxNation Managing Director, said: “Jeff Horn caused a massive upset against Manny Pacquiao when he became the WBO welterweight world champion. He was the underdog in that fight but still rose to the challenge and shocked the boxing world. Gary Corcoran will be looking to do exactly the same thing when he shares the ring with Horn next month, exclusively live on BoxNation. It is a very intriguing fight and a great opportunity for Corcoran to hit the big time and become another British world champion. BoxNation subscribers can tune in on December 13th and witness a very exciting world title matchup.”

BoxNation is available on Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Apple TV/ online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (iOS, Android, Amazon) for just £12 a month. Buy now at boxnation.com.

– ENDS –
About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.
Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Canelo vs Golovkin.
The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon, Apple TV). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.
Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.
BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.
For more information visit www.boxnation.com
*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

“I had the opportunity to personally meet Senator McCain in Washington, D.C. in February 2015 and am saddened to hear of his present health issues. My thoughts and prayers go out to Senator McCain for a speedy and full recovery. As with God, anything is possible.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

A contentious blame game in the wake – and we do mean wake – of Manny Pacquiao’s controversial loss to Jeff Horn is almost as regrettable as it is predictable. Above all, it’s all too familiar.

It’s the acrimonious noise that always seems to be there at the end of a legendary career. It’s as if few could foresee the ride was headed for a crashing conclusion. In hindsight, I suspect Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum did. He issued a warning few days before last weekend’s opening bell Down Under, saying that Horn could really fight.

It sounded like a warning, Arum’s way of saying that Pacquiao might lose if he wasn’t ready for a real fight. By now, we know he wasn’t. Argue about the scorecards all you want. On this one, Pacquiao was a 115-113 winner.

But I didn’t see the robbery that was so loudly alleged at ringside. Neither did Arum. Turns out, neither did Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, who in the aftermath of Horn’s 115-113, 117-111, 115-113 decision hinted at a less than satisfactory training camp and a fighter with energies divided between the gym and the Filipino Senate.

“To me, they were so overconfident going in — [conditioning coach] Justin Fortune tells the press that the only way Horn can win is if Manny trips going into the ring,’’ Arum told the Los Angeles Times a couple of day after the welterweight bout in Brisbane. “I had seen the kid. I told everybody he was a big, tough kid who could take a punch. I didn’t think he’d beat Manny, but it wasn’t the same Manny.”

It wasn’t. Truth is, Pacquiao hasn’t been the same Manny since his last stoppage in 2009, a 12th-round TKO of Miguel Cotto. Eight years are a career for some fighters. For Pacquiao, the power drought represents a drip-drip-drip in an erosion of an identity created by astonishing stoppages of Erik Morales, Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya. We had waited for that defining characteristic to reappear. But it never did, not against Brandon Rios or even Chris Algieri.

A great fighter without a stoppage over nearly eight years is bound to lose a few on the fickle scorecards. It happened against Timothy Bradley in 2012. To a lesser degree, it happened again in Australia, where it appeared Pacquiao was poised to finish it after a ferocious beating of Horn in the ninth, yet didn’t in the 10th simply because it just isn’t in him and hasn’t been for a while.

From religion to politics – there were different interests. From partying to gambling, there was a different lifestyle. He had changed, changed for good and forever. Still generous and likeable, the old instinct was gone. Inevitably, the physical reflexes would begin to go, too.

I don’t need a rematch to see whether Pacquiao can still be Manny. There’ll be a sequel with Horn if he decides to exercise his contracted right to one. But are we really going to see something more from a fighter whose decline has been evident for so long?

Imagine if Pacquiao had escaped with a scorecard victory over Horn in Las Vegas instead of Australia. Even in victory, there would still be the same doubts about whether he should continue, especially if that meant a fight against Terence Crawford. But his performance the workman-like Horn is proof that a fight against the emerging Crawford would be a sad end to a Pacquiao career as dramatic and colorful as any.

As of Thursday, there was no word on whether Pacquiao would fight on. I take that as good news. But I fear he’ll be tempted by one more bite at the financial apple. He’ll never be able to make as much as he did in the ring. In the political business, he’ll never have as much money as he needs. That means he’ll always be tempted.

But I prefer to remember Pacquiao when he was the Manny with one punch that launched Hatton so high that I could see the bottom of the Brit’s shoes from my ringside seat. I’ll remember the Manny who made De La Hoya quit after eight rounds.

I can only hope Pacquiao recalls what De La Hoya said on that December 6th night in 2008. After the fight was stopped, De La Hoya crossed the ring and told Roach, his old trainer: “You’re right, Freddie. I don’t have it anymore.’’

De La Hoya was 35 then. Pacquiao is 38 today.

“My heart still wants to fight, that’s for sure,” De La Hoya said then. “But when your (body) doesn’t respond, what can you do?”

Retire.

By Jimmy Tobin-

Welterweights Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn met at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, Saturday night in a fight broadcast by ESPN; a fight that delivered an outcome in keeping with the off-brand look of the production and cacophony of inane commentary typical of a network that for so long was in the glorified club fight business. Horn was awarded a unanimous decision over Pacquiao, the most absurd one yet hung on the aging Filipino, though not so heinous that that title too couldn’t one day change hands.

There was once a nostalgic quality to the aged Pacquiao’s performances; all those signature moves, however diminished in their effect, conjured memories of the excitement his arrival, his ascension to dominance, the mania his very presence at LAX or in the Wild Card parking lot, once produced. Nostalgia too for a period when fighters identified as such; when there were fewer reasons to consider boxing a business or show interest in the machinations that delivered or failed to deliver this fight or that; when there were spectacles of consequence and futurity and an endgame still discernible in the wayward paths.

Granted there is some historical bias at work here (this is what nostalgia does) and any sober examination of the years before Pacquiao’s decline would reveal a sport as charmingly flawed and frustrating as ever. Indeed, a number of boxing’s more modern malaises can be traced back to Pacquiao, in particular, the fight that more than any other made managers and promoters of us all, made contract negotiations an acceptable substitute for the fight itself, and proved actively lowering expectations brings scant penalty to those responsible.

But it was only because he remained a relatively close approximation of his former self that Pacquiao could have this mnemonic effect (compare, for example, what feelings are elicited by the sad spectacle of Roy Jones Jr., or how tedious Bernard Hopkins, former executioner, became in the later years of his career). Yet despite deserving the victory, Pacquiao produced little of that nostalgia against Horn. Yes, his ring walk was rich in its usual levity, and Pacquiao flashed genuine relish at his opponent’s aggression, but his legs, and with them his accuracy and timing, have left him. So too, it looked, has some of his fighting joy, perhaps a casualty of where his career has been navigated in recent years. In an open air stadium in Australia, under the ruthless afternoon sun, against an opponent whose every forearm, headlock, and half-nelson was cheered—and this mess televised for free on ESPN? Even someone as sanguine as Pacquiao must have wondered how he ended up in such a state.

And then the scores were read.

In writing about bogus decisions like the one delivered at Suncorp Stadium, courtesy dictates one bestow a charitable judgment on the efforts of the victor; the goal being to separate the fighter from the scorecards he did not produce. One need only remember how Timothy Bradley fared in the aftermath of his reviled decision over Pacquiao to see the importance of not holding the fighter responsible for the judges’ appraisal.

Very well.

Did the punch stat numbers, overwhelmingly favoring Pacquiao, misrepresent the competitiveness of the fight? A bit. Human error corrupts their tally and they capture neither force nor effect; such stats are often only as credible as they are convenient. Is Joe Tessitore a fool for struggling to understand how a fighter nearly stopped could nevertheless win a decision? Yes (or maybe he’s just a loyal employee). Could the opinions of slowly emptying balloons Teddy Atlas and Stephen A. Smith promote controversy where there might not be any? Certainly. (Though if there is anything Atlas’ deafening lunacy engenders it is an urge to disagree. He makes for hypercritical if not antagonistic listeners, a fact that hurts more than helps the fighter he is endorsing. Smith probably does the same).

In the ring, Horn comported himself admirably in the biggest fight of his career (no meager compliment, that). The Pacquiao of even last year probably beats Horn conclusively, but on Saturday this smoldering version of the Filipino looked as far removed from his incendiary peak as he ever has, and Horn should claim some credit for that. Let him have it, then. And let him confirm his supposed potency against another top opponent—the decision, however dubious, must be reckoned with, and Horn, however undeserving, is for now belted and consequential.

Pacquiao-Horn played out similarly to Roman Gonzalez’ fight with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai earlier this year. The smaller fighter faced adversity early, fought through cuts from headbutts to wrest control of the action, nearly scored a stoppage in the later rounds, and lost not so much to his opponent as to the optics of blood and the larger man’s incessant aggression, to the rationale that an unheralded opponent should be rewarded for outperforming expectations.

Such factors should not victors of Rungvisai or Horn make, but incompetence in a sport like boxing is impossible to insulate against. Still, since neither Gonzalez nor Pacquiao was interested in grabbing a pitchfork and lighting a torch neither should we. Not when laughing is so much easier.

ESPN’s live telecast Saturday, July 1, of the “Battle of Brisbane” (10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET) averaged a total live audience (television and streaming) of 3.1 million viewers across the ESPN and ESPN Deportes networks, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen. It was the highest-rated and most-watched boxing telecast on cable television since 2006 and ESPN’s highest-rated boxing telecast since 1995.
The WBO World Welterweight Championship main event between Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs), the Filipino legend and boxing’s only eight-division world champion, against undefeated No. 1 contender and Brisbane’s favorite son Jeff “The Hornet” Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) (12 midnight to 1 a.m. ET) peaked during the final half hour of their fight with 4.4 million viewers across both networks. Horn defeated Pacquiao by a controversial unanimous decision.
ESPN
On ESPN, the telecast averaged a 1.6 household rating and 2,812,000 viewers, making it the highest-rated and most-watched boxing telecast on cable TV since 2006. Carlos Baldomir vs. Arturo Gatti on HBO on July 22, 2006, earned a 1.6 household rating.
“The Battle of Brisbane” was also the highest-rated boxing telecast on ESPN’s networks since 1995. Danell Nicholson vs. Darren Hayden on ESPN, on December 21, 1995 earned a 1.7 household rating.
Highest Ratings for Boxing Telecasts on Cable in Last 10 Years
DATE
NETWORK
MAIN FIGHT
US HH Rating
7/01/2017
ESPN
Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn
1.6
9/26/2009
HBO
Vitali Klitschko vs. Chris Arreola
1.4
4/19/2008
HBO
Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe
1.3
5/03/2008
HBO
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes
1.3
5/09/2015
HBO
Canelo Alvarez vs. James Kirkland
1.3
ESPN Deportes
“The Battle of Brisbane” on ESPN Deportes averaged 206,000 viewers, including 308,000 viewers in the final half hour of the event, making it the most-watched fight on ESPN Deportes since Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares on August 29, 2015, which had an average minute viewing audience of 355,000.
Streaming
ESPN’s telecast had a streaming average minute audience of 78,000, with 392,000 unique viewers, and 14.4 million total minutes streamed. Based on all three measures, the fight was the most-streamed boxing event on record on ESPN’s networks. On ESPN Deportes, the telecast had a streaming average minute audience of 1,400, with 7,800 unique viewers, and 253,000 total minutes streamed. Based on all three measures, the fight was the most-streamed boxing event on record on ESPN Deportes. Streaming provided a combined additional 2.6% lift on top of the television audience for both networks.
“The Battle of Brisbane” is available to stream now on the ESPN app.

ESPN’s live telecast of the Saturday, July 1, “Battle of Brisbane” (10 p.m. ET to 1 a.m. ET) delivered a 1.8 metered market rating according to Nielsen, making it the highest-rated fight on record for a cable network this decade.*

The WBO World Welterweight Championship main event between Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs), the Filipino legend and boxing’s only eight-division world champion, against undefeated No. 1 contender and Brisbane’s favorite son Jeff “The Hornet” Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) (12 a.m. ET to 1 a.m. ET) delivered a 2.4 overnight rating. Horn defeated Pacquiao by a controversial unanimous decision.
Based on overnight Nielsen results, the “Battle of Brisbane” is likely to be the highest-rated fight on ESPN’s networks since the mid 1990’s.
Las Vegas was the top local market for the fight with a 4.0 metered market rating, including a 5.1 rating during the main event.
Metered Market Ratings for the Top Five Cities:
Rank
City
Rating
1
Las Vegas
4.0
2
Los Angeles
3.7
3
Raleigh-Durham
3.6
4
New Orleans
3.1
5
San Diego
3.0
Streaming results also broke ESPN records for boxing, making the fight the most-streamed boxing event on record for both the ESPN and ESPN Deportes networks. ESPN had a streaming average minute audience of 78K, 392K unique viewers, and 14.4 million total minutes. Based on all three measures, the fight was the most-streamed boxing event on record on ESPN’s networks. On ESPN Deportes, the fight had a streaming average minute audience of 1.4K, 7.8K unique viewers, and 253K total minutes streamed. Based on all three measures, the fight was the most-streamed boxing event on record on ESPN Deportes.
“The Battle of Brisbane” is available to stream now on the ESPN app. It will also re-air on ESPN2 tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

*Records date to 2010.

Follow all the action as Manny Pacquiao defends the WBO Welterweight title against undefeated Jeff Horn in fornt of over 55,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.  The action begins at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT/ 11 AM Sunday in Brisbane and 9 AM Sunday in the Philippines with a 3 fight undercard that will feature the IBF Junior Bantamweight title between Jerwin Ancajas and Teiru Konoshita; Michael Conlan battles Jarrett Owen Shane Mosley Jr. takes on David Tousaint

NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED.  THE PAGE WILL UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY 

Round 1: Combination from Horn..Body punch and right uppercut…Counter from Pacquiao..Good exchange

Round 2 Right hook to body from Pacquiao.Body shot from Horn..Right..Left from Pacquiao..Good left to body…Horn lands..Left from Pacquiao..

round 3 Right from Horn. Horn cut over right eye..Great exchanges…

Round 4 Horn landed a right..Left from Pacquiao..Good body shot..Good uppercut from Horn,,Left from Pacquiao..

Round 5 Right from Horn..Short left from Pacquiao..Right from Horn,,Left to head from Pacquiao..Jab from Horn..Straight left from Pacquiao..Hard left..

Round 6 Uppercut from Horn..Pacquiao cut from the hairline (Headbutt)..Hard right buckles Pacquiao

Round 7  Pacquiao cut over left eye (Headbutt)..Short right from Horn,,Hard left..Body shot

Round 8 Straight left from Pacquiao..Right from Horn,,right from Horn

Round 9 Straight left from Horn..Pacquiao landing..Horn starting to tire,,Straight left..Horn face is a mess with blood…Hard left..

Round 10  Hard right from Pacquiao…Left,,,Straight right from Horn,,

Round 11 Jab from Horn..Hard left from Pacquiao..Right from Horn…

Round 12 Left from Pacquiao…Good exchange,,,1-2 from Pacquiao..Right from Horn,..Straight left from Pacquiao..

117-111, 115-113 twice FOR JEFF HORN

Round 1 Ancajas throwing lead right hooks and jabs…

Round 2 Kinsoshita cut over the right eye

Round 3 Left from Ancajas…Good right…

Round 4 Good body work from Ancajas..

Round 5 Body shot from Kinoshita

Round 6  Good short right from Ancajas…Sharp left from Kinoshita..

Round 7 Kinoshita’s right eye closing..HARD BODY SHOT AND DOWN GOES KINOSHITA, AND THE FIGHT IS STOPPED

Round 1: Good right from Conlan

Round Hard right from Conlan

Round 3 Conlan working the body…Chopping right..Owen is hURT AND THE CORNER THROWS IN THE TOWEL

Round 1 Toussaint a southpaw..Straight right from Mosley…Left from Toussaint..Short left

Round 2 Right hook from Toussaint…Toussaint bleeding over the right eye..Right and body shot from Mosley..Straight left from Toussaint..Right from Mosley..Right hook from Toussaint..Good exchange at the bell…Toussaint lands a left

Round 3 Short left on inside from Toussaint..Jab..right to body..glancing blow on the inside..Right from Mosley..Lead uppdercut from Toussaint.

Round 4 Straight left from Toussaint..Uppercuts on the inside..another uppercut on the inside..

Round 5 Straight left from Toussaint..Left hand..Good combination

Round 6  2 straight lefts from Toussaint..Right from Mosley..

Round 7   Good right to body from Mosley..

Round 8  Right from Mosley..Toussaint lands a combination..Counter right hook..

Manny Pacquiao 146 – Jeff Horn 147
(WBO Welterweight championship)
Co-Feature – IBF Super Flyweight World Championship (12 rounds)
Jerwin Ancajas(26-1-1, 17 KOs), Champion, Cavite City, Philippines 114 lbs.
Teiru Kinoshita (25-1-1, 8 KOs), Challenger, Kobe, Japan 115 lbs.

Middleweights (8 rounds)
Shane Mosley, Jr. (10-1, 7 KOs), Pomona, California. USA 160 lbs.
David Toussaint (10-0, 8 KOs), Canberra, Australia 160 lbs.

Featherweights (6 rounds)
Michael Conlan (2-0, 2 KOs), Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK 126 lbs.
Jarrett Owen (5-4-3, 2 KOs), Brisbane, Australia 126 lbs.

By Norm Frauenheim-

From Pac Man to The Honorable, it’s been one wild, wonderful ride. Sometimes wacky, too, but that’s boxing, the only place Manny Pacquiao’s improbable story could have happened.

It continues, this time Down Under in Brisbane against a fighter nobody really knows – and if Pacquiao has his way – nobody will remember after this weekend.

Pacquiao is fighting somebody named Jeff Horn, who is as unknown as the Filipino Senator was a couple of decades ago. Horn has never answered an opening bell to a pro bout in the northern hemisphere.

At 16-0 with one draw and 11 knockouts, it’s hard to judge what kind of fighter Horn is. Video shows he’s aggressive and throws straight punches. I look at the Aussie school teacher and I think of Ricky Hatton without he post-fight pints or Brandon Rios without the craziness. But who knows?

Truth is, the same question applies to Pacquiao — the fighter — these days. His bout with Horn has the feel of one stop in a long, worldwide farewell to the sport that turned him into an international celebrity and even a possible Filipino presidential candidate.

The welterweight fight itself has some significant implications for the business. There’s no pay-per-view price tag attached to it. ESPN will televise the bout (6 p.m PT/9 p.m ET). In Australia, it will happen Sunday afternoon at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium in front of a potential crowd of 60,000.

It’s the first time Pacquaio will appear in a non-PPV fight since 2005. There has been lots of evidence over the last couple of years that the PPV model no longer works, either because of cost or all the ways the signal can be pirated.

Whatever the reason, if Pacquiao in a non-PPV bout works, it’s a sure sign the business has moved on from a model that some say has enriched a few, yet left other good fighters without access to a larger audience.

Pacquaio is not the inexhaustible maelstrom he was against Oscar De La Hoya in 2008, but he’s still as reliable indicator of the where the business has been and where it’s going. People watch because of the name. Without the PPV price, the best estimate for ESPN’s audience is 2 million.

If he looks good and scores his first stoppage since his stoppage of Miguel Cotto in 2009, tired talk about a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. is inevitable. Don’t believe it.

Mayweather is fighting UFC star Conor McGregor on Aug. 26 in a sanctioned boxing match because the Irishman is no threat. Pacquiao still is and chances are good that he’ll prove that against Horn, who has never encountered anybody with his speed.

“Yes, this is a great opportunity to show the fans of boxing that we are still here and not done in boxing,’’ Pacquiao said Tuesday in a conference call from Brisbane. “So, this is a good chance, and we believe that a lot of people will be watching.’’

Above all, it’s good chance to remind people of Pacquiao’s popularity. He’s not the fighter he once was. Few at 38 are.

“He probably doesn’t pull the trigger,’’ Horn said. “Look, he is still a super-fast fighter that has easily taken apart his last few opponents. I don’t know if he has a knockout in him But who knows?’’

That’s the bottom-line question. Could Horn be the Down Under version of Joe Smith Jr., the light-heavyweight who ended the Bernard Hopkins legend in December? Not likely. Smith had introduced himself as legit threat with a stoppage of Andrzej Fonfara last June.

But who knows?

For once, we can get an answer without the PPV.

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada (June 28, 2017) – The final [press conference was held today for this Saturday night’s “Battle in Brisbane,” featuring World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight World champion Manny “Pacman’ Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) and his title challenger, Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs).

“Battle of Brisbane: Pacquiao vs. Horn,” presented by Top Rank and Duco Events. will air this Saturday evening, exclusively in Canada on Super Channel, live from Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.

Super Channel subscribers will be able to watch four exciting fights, starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, on the “Battle of Brisbane” card, headlined by Pacquiao vs. Horn.

PACQUIAO VS. DE LA HOYA & HATTON REPLAYS ON SC1

As a warm-up to the “Battle of Brisbane” on July 1, Super Channel will present two replays of previous Pacquiao bouts on Friday June 30starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on SC1:

Manny Pacquiao vs Oscar de la Hoya- Dec. 6, 2008

Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton- May 2, 2009 (IBO World super lightweight title)

These fights will also be available on Super Channel On Demand.

Here is a link to Pacquaio’s interview today with official press conference host Ben Damon:

https://we.tl/HhJ8MpiyGC

Saturday night’s Super Channel telecast will also feature two-time Irish Olympian Michael Conlan (2-0, 2 KOs), from Belfast, in a six-round featherweight bout against Jarrett “Juarez” Owen (5-4-3, 2 KOs), of Brisbane.In the 12-round co-feature,International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior bantamweight world champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas (24-1-1, 16 KOs), of Cavite City, Philippines, will defend his title against top-rated contender Teiru Kinoshita (25-1-1, 8 KOs), of Kobe, Japan. The live telecast will open with an eight-round middleweight bout between Shane Mosley, Jr. (10-1, 7 KOs), of Pomona, Calif. and son of former three-division world champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley, and David Toussaint (10-0, 8 KOs), of Canberra, Australia.

All fights and fighters are subject to change.

INFORMATION:
www.superchannel.ca
Twitter: @SuperChannel
Instagram: @SuperChannelTV
Facebook: /superchannel
About Super Channel:

Super Channel is a national premium pay television network, consisting of four HD channels, four SD channels, and Super Channel On Demand.

Super Channel’s mission is to entertain and engage Canadian audiences by providing a unique and exclusive entertainment experience. With a core foundation of integrity and accountability, we dedicate ourselves to implementing innovative programming strategies and unparalleled team work that provides viewers with exceptional value and variety.

Super Channel is owned by Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc., an Edmonton-based media company.

Super Channel is currently available on Bell TV, Shaw Direct, Rogers Anyplace TV, Shaw Cable, Cogeco Cable, Access Communications, Bell Aliant TV, Source Cable, SaskTel, MTS, Novus, EastLink, TELUS, Videotron, Westman Communications and other regional providers.
www.superchannel.ca

Fighter of the Decade and reigning WBO welterweight champion MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, and his opponent, undefeated No. 1 contender JEFF “The Hornet” HORN, hosted a media Q&A on Tuesday in Brisbane, Australia, just days before their historic fight. They were joined by their respective trainers, Freddie Roach and Glenn Rushton, and Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum

Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the only sitting Senator to capture a world championship belt, and Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs), from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia,, a 2012 Olympian and Pacquiao’s mandatory challenger, collide This Saturday, July 1, at Suncorp Stadium in front of a national record 60,000 fans. ESPN will televise the Pacquiao-Horn world title tilt and an all-action three-bout undercard, live, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

FRED STERNBURG: The biggest fight in Australian history is just days away. Fighter of the Decade and Eight Division World Champion Senator Manny Pacquiao will be defending his WBO welterweight title against undefeated and No. 1 mandatory challenger Jeff “The Hornet” Horn. It is a huge event and it will be televised live to the U.S. on Saturday, July 1, on ESPN, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. We have both Jeff and Manny on and we will begin with Jeff as well as his trainer/manager Glenn Rushton and his promoter Dean Lonergan. To set the table, it is a pleasure to introduce Hall of Fame Promoter Bob Arum.

BOB ARUM: Thank you very much. We are here is Brisbane and it is approximately 9 am on Wednesday morning and Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles, early Tuesday evening in New York. There is tremendous excitement for this fight – it is something really special. The whole country has caught on. Every newspaper — front page, back page — all over the television, the country has really embraced this event. The event will be held Sunday afternoon, July 2 in Suncorp Stadium and it will be televised live, including a tremendous three-fight undercard, in the United States by our friends at ESPN. I am very, very excited about this event between welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn. It’s is going to be a very, very good battle. I watched Jeff train – I think he’s up for a performance of his life and you are going to see a great, great fight on Saturday night.

JEFF HORN: I m feeling very excited and I can’t wait for Sunday to come and I am ready to go to war.

GLENN RUSHTON: I can’t elaborate too much on the ten-point-plan we developed – it is very much a secret — but we are exceptionally confident that if Jeff follows that ten-point-plan, he will emerge victorious. He has trained incredibly hard and he is as fit as he has ever been. He is injury fee. His jaw is as hard as granite. His heart is as big as Suncorp Stadium, and he is technically very proficient, so it is going to be one heck of a fight come Saturday night over there (USA) and Sunday afternoon over here. I think the crowd is going to be shocked as to how good a fighter Jeff is. I think some have thought this will be a relatively easy fight for Manny Pacquiao and that certainly won’t be the case. We are looking forward to the biggest boxing event is Australian history.

What was going through your mind when you heard that this fight would happen, and in your hometown?

JEFF HORN: Yes, it was very unexpected. I actually couldn’t believe it when I got it but I was thankful that I got it and I jumped at it and said I’ll do it. I said yes, but then I heard it was going to be at Suncorp, it has been more than my dream come true – a world title shot against Pacquiao in my hometown.

Glenn, could you give me your thoughts on that? When they called and said Jeff would be fighting Manny Pacquiao?

GLENN RUSHTON: Actually, it felt true to me – it felt correct. When we sat down with Dean Lonergan of Duco Events, our promoter, I said, ‘Dean, I envision Jeff Horn fighting at Suncorp Stadium for a world title in front of full house. That’s my dream. I envisioned it.” I said ‘can you see that?’ And he gulped a little bit and said ‘well yes I suppose I could see that,’ so he slowly bought into that dream. It’s a dream that I have had and it felt right. It felt like everything deserved to be. I have always believed this would happen. We are very pleased with it and looking very much forward to seeing this turn into an historic event.

Jeff, what is the largest crowd you have fought in front of?

JEFF HORN: The largest crowd I have fought in front of would be about 10,000 – that was on the undercard of Parker-Ruiz last December. This is next level for sure.

What makes you think that you can beat many Pacquiao?

JEFF HORN: I think I have a style that Pacquiao has not fought before. I think he is going to struggle with my style. I am bigger than him. He may be faster than me but I am pretty quick as well. I could hit him with the right shot and nobody knows what could happen.

Do you feel like you are fighting a peak many Pacquiao?

GLENN RUSHTON: We do believe that Manny Pacquiao is at his peak. Certainly I do not feel he is far off his peak – he is fairly close – he did a terrific job against Jessie Vargas – he was incredibly sharp there – he was picking him off very well. He did not look like a 38-year-old man, that’s for sure. He looked very, very good against Tim Bradley and very sharp as well, so if he has fallen from his peak, he has come from such a hard place, he has fallen very slightly, he is still far better than his opposition. We are looking to fight the best Manny Pacquiao. We are not looking to fight someone that is past his prime – we are not thinking that way at all – that would be very foolish. We are preparing to fight the Manny Pacquiao that Freddie Roach has been saying in his training has been looking sharp and knocking people down in sparring and so forth. So we are here to fight Manny Pacquiao at his best and we are going to bring our own game and there will be no excuses – just two great warriors out there and we are looking forward to this amazing contest.

JEFF HORN: I think Manny has looked good in his last couple of fights, he probably doesn’t pull the trigger a little bit when he had the chance. Look, he is still a super fast fighter that has easily taken apart his last few opponents. I don’t know if he has a knockout in him but who knows? I will finally find out though.

Jeff – who do you think is the toughest opponent you have fought thus far?

JEFF HORN: That’s a hard one. I have fought a lot of tough guys. Randall Bailey was certainly the hardest puncher I have ever fought – for sure the hardest puncher. I have fought a lot of tough guys – they have all been really strong. Rico Mueller was very strong. Even Ben Rabeh was a really tough fighter. I could name a heap of my past fights that were tough.

How much of a step up do you think this is from past opponents?

JEFF HORN: Yes this is definitely jumping a few steps at a time. I have fought some tough guys – some high-level competition, but Manny Pacquiao has that legendary status.

GLENN RUSHTON: It is a step up but you’ve got to understand we can only fight the toughest guys we can get hold of. I spoke to Duco’s matchmaker and I said “Jeff is legit and I want to go up against world-class opponents’ and this is the last ten, they have all been world-ranked. They all had at least 20 fights under their belt and they must have at least a 90% win record. The matchmaker thought I was crazy he said most trainers don’t want to fight anyone that’s got a pulse and you want to fight all of these really tough guys. I said there is a reason for that I’m trying to put Jeff up against as tough an opponent as I can so I can harden him for days when we get an opportunity against a Manny Pacquiao. I want him to be ready to fight against the toughest guys. Of course along the way we would have loved to fight a Jessie Vargas or a Tim Bradley but in this game those guys are going to say ‘what’s the upside for me?’ So we fought the toughest people we can and Jeff has risen because of that to become the No. 1 contender – so he is in this position and a lot of people are saying that and after this fight everyone will know who Jeff Horn is come Sunday is Brisbane and Saturday night in the USA – they will all know who Jeff Horn is.

Who do you think gave him the most difficult time in the ring?

GLENN RUSHTON: I personally feel that having been in the corner for all of his fights – the toughest fight was probably Naoufel Ben Rabeh – remember this was just Jeff’s seventh fight and Rabeh was 35-2 and his two losses were for world titles and some say his loss to Juan Urango was a little bit curious but he was a tough fight to have in only your seventh fight. It was a winner tale all fight and we took it on two weeks notice and we went to Rabeh’s hometown to fight him. It was a very tough fight and Jeff lost the first round and after that when I said, ‘Jeff this is winner take all’ – he was covered in blood – it was a very hard first round – there is no second prize here – you could go home with no money in your pocket. He won every round after that and apparently, well he retired Ben Rabeh, put him in the hospital and he said he suffered more damage in that fight than in either of his two world title fights. And that was on two weeks notice. That gives you some idea on how Jeff will look against Pacquiao. Whatever Manny wants to throw at Jeff, Jeff will rise to the occasion.

There are two ways these fights usually go – the underdog pulls the upset or the underdog looks very bad…

JEFF HORN: I have just been putting everything into it – training very hard and I think all of that is going to pay off for me. Manny Pacquiao is going to be surprised about what I take to him in the ring.

Do you think being a lesser known fight is an advantage for you?

JEFF HORN: I think in the last couple of fights Pacquiao has not lost too much. To me not being known as a fighter – that might be handy in this fight, as in Manny has not been able to study what I can do and maybe underestimate me in this fight, and in the same way, Pacquiao has fought so many tough guys, that we all know and have watched, so he has definitely got the experience on me. But will he use that experience? We will see.

How much motivation do you get from being the underdog, to win this fight?

JEFF HORN: It does give me massive motivation – it makes me train harder knowing that no one gives me a shot, but I have experienced that throughout my whole career. I guess this is on another level and there are a lot more people saying I’ve got no chance at all. I like being the underdog. It’s fun.

GLENN RUSHTON: Jeff is a fierce competitor. He is very determined especially with his big heart he is probably one of the really key factors, he hates losing at anything, whether it is poker or table tennis or whatever it is – he is one of those people that just has to win and I think that has been a real motivating factor – people saying that I’m not going to win is dangerous. We know we are fighting one of the greatest fighters of all time and we are very mindful and respect Manny Pacquiao’s abilities. That KO against Marquez, that’s a stone cold KO that takes something out of a fighter – getting knocked out cold like that – that’s got to be haunting to a fighter in the back of his mind. We have the young hungry lion here – big and mean who is technically very good – he made the finals in the Olympics and won two national titles so he knows he is technically very good, he’s tough and he knows he’s got a great chin. He knows all of this and he has come off not too long ago loss against Marquez and that’s going to haunt him a little bit when he gets hit with Jeff’s power and it’s going to change things. There is going to be a time in this fight that there will be a change and you’ll sense that this is a very young guy that is tough and he is going to startle. We love being the underdog. It is terrific. It takes a lot of pressure off Jeff and at the end of the day Manny Pacquiao is just a man. He is just a man so when we get out there on the night of the fight it’s going to come down to who wants it the most and one thing is for sure, and I assure you, there is no one on this earth that wants it more than Jeff Horn.

MANNY PACQUIAO: Hello to everyone wherever you are – good evening, good afternoon and good morning.

FREDDIE ROACH: Don’t miss this fight it is going to be fun.

With all of the other champions and top fighters at welterweight, why did you decide to fight Jeff Horn?

MANNY PACQUIAO: It is good to fight in a country that you haven’t fought in before and to give a chance to Jeff – he is undefeated and it is good to give him a chance. He has earned it.

Were you interested in fighting one of the other champions?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Yes, but also Jeff is the mandatory champion.

Would you like to once again fight in the Philippines?

MANNY PACQUIAO: We are working on fighting in my country of the Philippines — we would like to do that.

Do you think we could see a Manny Pacquiao knockout against Jeff Horn?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Different fighters and Freddie and I work to focus on the knockout but we don’t know if it will come but we prepare for safety first and defense and not being careless and doing our job. If the knockout comes it will come and if I have the chance to knock him out I will grab that opportunity.

FREDDIE ROACH: It’s been a good training camp and there has been a few knockdowns in this camp and it’s been a while since we have had that and Manny has been looking really sharp in camp and he has had a great camp and he is 100% ready for this fight.

How do you get Manny Pacquiao up for a fight like Jeff Horn compared to all of the huge opponents he has faced in the past?

FREDDIE ROACH: One thing about Manny we don’t take anyone lightly – Jeff is not that well known but he does have 16 wins and he has fought a couple of names out there, but again, we get ready for everyone and we are in great shape for this fight as we would be for anybody else in the world.

Do you think that with the huge ESPN audience is is a good opportunity to show fans you are still an elite fighter?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Yes this is a great opportunity to show the fans of boxing that we are still here and not done in boxing so this is a good chance and we believe that a lot of people will be watching and we spoke to Bob (Arum) and we decided to give the people a chance to watch the fight on a free station in America.

Do you think you can be the fighter to bring back the glory days of boxing to free television?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Bob and I decided to show this fight on free television so people can watch without paying the pay per view for the fight, because I have fought in America many times and people had to pay to watch the fight on television. For this fight we are giving the people the chance to watch it for free. It will be live on ESPN. This is a very exciting fight because it is the first time I am fighting in this country so we are very excited for this fight.

BOB ARUM: It’s more than that. Manny is a level above the ordinary fighter. He is now in the Senate in the Philippines. He thinks in terms of the people and he did say to me ‘I want this fight seen in America, which has been so good to me, by as many people as possible, for free.’ We were able to make a deal with ESPN and we will have, by far, the most people to ever watch a Manny Pacquiao fight will be Saturday night, July 1 – the start of the 4th of July weekend. So in effect I think it should be viewed as a gift to the American public, by Manny Pacquiao, who has spent so much time and has done great things in the United States. I think it’s wonderful that this fight is being shown on free television – on ESPN — and yes I hope that many more fights will be shown on free to air television.

Horn’s trainer said earlier that Manny is not the same after the Marquez KO . . .

FREDDIE ROACH: The Marquez punch, Manny stepped into that right hand and I think since that fight he has fought wonderfully. That fight was so long ago to me and since then Manny has been ready for every fight and we waited for Marquez to give us a rematch and he wouldn’t give us one so we are on with Jeff Horn right now.

MANNY PACQUIAO: For me I am still the same – I am still a boxer – and I disagree.

What do you expect it to be like going into a stadium with a full crowd rooting against you?

MANNY PACQUIAO: I am a person that loves to fight against my opponent with focus and determination. It gives me extra motivation to have 50,000 to 60,000 fans cheering for him, so that is good for me. Like when I fought Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio, Texas in 2002, I had only five fans for me, and four of them were Freddie and my corner. It gives me more inspiration and focus.

FREDDIE ROACH: Well, you know there is going to be a big crowd there and at the beginning they may be rooting against Manny Pacquiao but at the end of the fight everyone in the building will be on Manny’s side. EVERYONE.

MANNY PACQUIAO: Thank you so much for everything and for this opportunity to speak to all of the media from around the world and thank you to Bob and to the promoter Dean Lonergan and ESPN. Thank you

FREDDIE ROACH: Brisbane is a great place, a wonderful city and it’s great to see the world and make sure you tune in Saturday night on ESPN.

FRED STERNBURG: Watch it live on ESPN, Saturday at 9 pm ET

BOB ARUM: And 6 pm where I live on the west coast.

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ESPN’s coverage of “The Battle of Brisbane” will begin on Friday, June 30th, and includes live coverage of the Pacquiao and Horn weigh-in at 7 p.m. ET within SportsCenter on ESPN and within Golpe a Golpe on ESPN Deportes. During the week of June 26, classic Pacquiao fights will also be available on demand and streaming via the ESPN app, on both ESPN and ESPN Deportes, including Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton (5/2/2009), Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez (11/12/11) and Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley (4/12/14).

The July 1 telecast will also feature Irish Olympic hero Michael Conlan (2-0, 2 KOs), from Belfast, in a six-round featherweight bout against Jarrett “Juarez” Owen (5-4-3, 2 KOs), of Brisbane, and International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior bantamweight world champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas (24-1-1, 16 KOs), of Cavite City, Philippines, defending his title against top-rated contender Teiru Kinoshita (25-1-1, 8 KOs), of Kobe, Japan. The live telecast will open with an eight-round middleweight rumble between Shane Mosley, Jr. (10-1, 7 KOs), of Pomona, Calif. and son of former three-division world champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley, and David Toussaint (10-0, 8 KOs), of Canberra, Australia.

Saturday, July 1st on ESPN and ESPN Deportes
9 p.m. – 10 p.m. ET: Top Rank Boxing: Undercards & Main Event Preview
– Shane Mosley, Jr. vs. David Toussaint

10 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. ET: Top Rank Boxing: Main Event
– Michael Conlan vs. Jarrett Owen
– Jerwin Ancajas vs. Teiru Kinoshita
– Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff “The Hornet” Horn

Sunday, July 2nd on ESPN Deportes
12:30 a.m. – 2 a.m. ET – SportsCenter

Promoted by Top Rank® and Duco Events, in association with MP Promotions, “The Battle of Brisbane: Pacquiao vs. Horn” is expected to attract a sellout crowd of 55,000+ fans, eclipsing the previous Australian record of 38,000 set on March 1, 1992 when Azumah Nelson stopped Jeff Fenech in the eighth round to retain his World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight title. The battle between the two Hall of Famer fighters took place at Princes Park in Melbourne.
For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo @ESPNDeportes. Join the conversation #PacHorn.