There is no other place Jeff Horn will grant a rematch to Manny Pacquiao other than Brisbane, the Australian world welterweight champion’s promoter said during a news conference last Monday.
Dean Lonergan, who heads the New Zealand-based Duco Promotions, insists that his outfit holds the rights to stage a rematch based on the contract the two parties signed prior to Pacquiao and Horn’s first meeting in July.
Horn scored an upset and dethroned Pacquiao as World Boxing Organization (WBO) 147-lb king and he is set to defend it for the first time against Gary Corcoran of England on Dec. 13 in Brisbane.
Lonergan said Horn is keen on facing Pacquiao again to prove his detractors wrong and efforts will be made to convince the Filipino fighting senator to travel Down Under once more.
“The only problem we do have is our good friend Mr. Pacquiao who is never as easy as we would like him to be,” said Lonergan.
“We will work with him for the next few months to get that fight down here,” he added.
It looked as if a second meeting was already in place for Nov. 12 also in Brisbane but Pacquiao apparently withdrew at the last minute owing to his Senate commitments.
Pacquiao, who turns 39 on Dec. 17, even wanted to import Horn to the Philippines for a December showdown but nothing came out of the negotiations as the Australian’s camp maintained that it owned the rights to such a fight.