Johnny Lewis, Australia’s premier trainer, believes little-known Jeff Horn has the tools needed to send Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao crashing back to earth.
Horn is being groomed to battle Pacquiao on April 23 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane although his promoters have yet to finalize a deal even though an agreement with Bob Arum of Top Rank is already in place.
“Jeff Horn is on the way up and Manny has seen better days,” Lewis told the Brisbane Courier Mail.
Lewis used to be the trainer of Australia’s biggest champions in modern times: Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu.
“I think Jeff is good enough to do the job,” added Lewis, who had also worked the corners of four other world champions.
Duco Promotions, a New Zealand-based outfit, is in the thick of negotiations to have the fight staged at the 52,000 Suncorp Stadium.
Aside from Brisbane, two other Australian cities – Sydney and Melbourne – are also said to be in the running to host the world welterweight title fight.