We won’t accept, says Koncz of purse to fight Horn.
Manny Pacquiao won’t fight Australian banger Jeff Horn for peanuts.
Mike Koncz, Pacquiao’s Canadian adviser, said yesterday that the reported $5 million purse to face the unbeaten Horn for April 22 or 23 is not commensurate to the Filipino’s immense stature and drawing power.
Koncz said he watched a streamed press conference that was held in Brisbane following Top Rank chief Bob Arum’s declaration that a deal has been reached with Horn’s promoter in Las Vegas.
“We won’t accept $5 million,” said Koncz.
It was during the presser that the $5 million paycheck was mentioned and Koncz thought that was too low a figure for the Filipino legend to accept.
Koncz cited a similar incident in the past when Arum had to produce another $5 million so Pacquiao would affix his signature to the contract.
Arum met with Duco Promotions head Dean Lonergan in Las Vegas on Tuesday and the decision was immediately relayed to Horn, who was ecstatic when told about the news.
Lonergan told the Courier Mail, the local paper of Brisbane and Horn’s hometown, that the venue remains up in the air although they are going to work doubly hard in making sure the fight ends up on Australian soil.
Brisbane, which boasts of the 52,000-capacity Suncorp Stadium is said to be bidding with the backing of the state government of Queensland.
The same holds true with Melbourne in Victoria where the 55,000-seat Etihad Stadium is located. Sydney in New South Wales could also come into play alongside Adelaide in South Australia.
Others being eyed to host the fight, which will be Pacquiao’s defense of the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown, are the United Arab Emirates with Dubai and Abu Dhabi as potential sites, and even the US.
The stakeholders are set to meet with several VIPs in the coming days in an effort to close out the deal.
Lonergan even told the Courier Mail that the fight would go to the locale that delivers the best financial package.
Pacquiao used to get a guarantee of at least $20 million in his fights, excluding the May 2015 match with Floyd Mayweather when he pocketed over $150 million (purse and PPV share).
Unbeaten in 17 fights with 11 KOs, the 28-year-old Horn was in high spirits during the presser held at the Regatta Hotel as he looked forward to upsetting the 38-year-old Pacquiao.
“This is a big step, a step I am willing to take,” said Horn, who represented Australia in the 2011 world championships and 2012 London Olympics.
Horn swears that while Pacquiao remains an elite fighter, the eight-division champion is on the twilight of a brilliant career.
“My style is going to trouble him…and I hope to catch him when he rushes in,” said Horn, the image of a face-down Pacquiao in his mind following Juan Manuel Marquez’s counter right straight that produced a sixth-round KO in 2012.