Koncz says Aussie will realize Pacquiao on a level of his own.
If undefeated Australian challenger Jeff Horn believes that Manny Pacquiao is looking past him, he is terribly mistaken.
In fact, Pacquiao, who defends the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown for the first time on July 2 in Brisbane, is pumped up to deliver his message to the world, loud and clear.
“Manny is not taking you or this fight lightly,” said Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz on the scheduled 12-rounder expected to be watched by a capacity crowd of 52,500 at Suncorp Stadium.
“Manny will be prepared like never before and pledged to prove a point to all his fans,” said Koncz, who nonetheless predicted that the 38-year-old eight-division champion will simply be too much for the gutsy but relatively inexperienced Horn.
Horn had expressed hope that Pacquiao would be ripe for the picking by the time they square off in about ten weeks.
But Koncz insists that Pacquiao remains far from being damaged goods even though he had slowed down a bit the last couple of years.
“Horn will realized that Pacquiao is on a different level…a different world fighting someone like Manny Pacquiao,” added Koncz.
Still, the camp of Pacquiao is not belittling Horn, who is rated second in the 147-lb class by the WBO.
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has finalized his travel plans for a six-week training camp with Pacquiao.
Horn has a 16-0-1 win-loss-draw record with 11 KOs and he secured the title try after stopping Ali Funeka of South Africa last December in Auckland, New Zealand.
To show that he is not taking Horn for granted, Pacquiao showed up for morning roadwork while the entire country shut down for the Lenten break.