Manny Pacquiao is going to meet his Waterloo on July 2 before a record-setting crowd of 55,000 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
This is the belief of Jeff Horn, the huge underdog from Australia who is aiming to knock the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown off Pacquiao’s head.
When news of Pacquiao’s lackadaisical sparring sessions reached him in Brisbane, the 29-year-old Horn told Fox Sports how things are falling into place.
“I’m hearing all the reports that Pacquiao looks terrible sparring and that’s great. All along I think he has been underestimating me. His mates would have been telling him for weeks that I’m not in the class of the guys he’s beaten and I hope they keep telling him that,” Horn said.
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach told a handful of Filipino scribes last Tuesday that Pacquiao looked way off during his second sparring session and that the 38-year-old eight-division champion is behind schedule.
Although there is still ample time to recover, Roach told the beat writers that it’s been a long while since the last time he saw Pacquiao appear very ordinary.
During Thursday’s sessions, Pacquiao was much better than the first time Roach saw him work out.
Still, Horn could be either giddy with excitement or on his feet wishing that the fight was in a week’s time.
“He probably thinks he’s coming to Brisbane to make an easy $10 million but he’s in for a shock,” said Horn, who enters the scheduled 12-rounder armed with a 16-0-1 win-loss-draw record with 11 KOs.