Riches await Australia’s Jeff Horn if he can beat Manny Pacquiao

Untold riches await Jeff Horn. “If he wins he is on the top of the world,” says promoter Bob Arum.

Boxer Jeff Horn who will take on the great Manny Pacquiao in July. Picture: Jono Searle

Untold riches await Jeff Horn.

“If he wins he is on the top of the world,” legendary promoter Bob Arum told The Australian. “In addition to fame and glory — we’re talking professional fighters — there is a potload of money. He will be able to command big figures going forward.

“For him, he has the opportunity just by winning this fight to provide for his family for the rest of their lives.

“He will be making millions of dollars in his next fight if he wins this fight. He knows that. So at that point you become a wealthy guy.

“An athlete doesn’t have a long life, so in the next few years he could accumulate enough money that will allow him to live extremely well for the rest of his life. That’s why they call it prize fighting.”

Arum rolls out the likes of WBC and WBA champion Keith Thurman, Jessie Vargas, Terence Crawford and Timothy Bradley as he lists potential opponents for the former Brisbane schoolteacher should Horn navigate his way past legendary WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium on July 2.

Horn will step into the ring as a huge underdog but Arum has seen bigger upsets during his time in the sport. He promoted the Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks fight in 1978, one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history. A lifetime around the ring has shown him anything is possible.

“I think Horn is a very capable young man, he is a very strong kid and if this fight were in Las Vegas or Madison Square Garden, I wouldn’t give him much of a chance,” Arum said.

“But he is going to be fighting in front of a massive home crowd and I think that will calm his nerves. Remember Manny is not a spring chicken.

“He is 38 years old, he has been fighting for 22 years, since he was 16. I have seen big fights like this before.

“I promoted the first Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks fight in February 1978 when nobody thought much of Spinks. They didn’t think he was ready to fight a guy like Ali and, lo and behold, he won the fight.

“So I give Horn a real shot to win the fight. I think if I had a bet on the fight I would bet on Manny because he has more experience and he is a fantastic fighter even though he is getting old.

“But Horn has a real shot to beat him, a real live underdog.”

Arum and Pacquiao will jet into Australia next week to begin promoting the fight, which is expected to attract a crowd in excess of 55,000 to Suncorp Stadium.

Pacquiao will then return to The Philippines to begin a six-week training camp under the tutelage of legendary trainer Freddie Roach. The Filipino has gone nearly a decade without a knockout and Roach wants to see that streak come to an end against Horn.

Arum has championed the fight, swimming against the tide when it appeared Pacquiao and his camp were pushing for a big-money bout in the UAE against England’s Amir Khan.

The veteran American promoter wanted the Horn fight to go ahead and it will, Arum believing it has the capacity to change the sport in this country and have a ripple effect across the globe.

“I look at the future of boxing and how global a sport it is,” he said.

“I think that in order for boxing to thrive on a global basis, you have to have a strong footprint in Australia because it is one of the great sporting countries in the world.

“Not only boxing, but other sports like rugby league and swimming. Australians have always excelled. I think having this fight with the massive attention it is going to get will stimulate the sport of boxing in Australia and that will benefit everyone involved in boxing.”