Despite Pacquiao’s stunning loss to Mexican counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 followed by another loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2015, Pacquiao at 38 is still a formidable opponent.
Pacquiao’s loss to Marquez could be attributed to overconfidence and carelessness because he may have assumed that he could finish Marquez by the sixth or seventh round. Marquez admitted he could have been knocked out late in the round if Pacquiao did not walk into his right power punch that landed straight to his mouth.
Pacquiao was leading on all scorecards when the sixth round KO happened. After he regained consciousness, Pacquiao said “he had no excuse and that he (Marquez) deserved the victory.”
Marquez called Pacquiao a “great fighter” after the fight, saying “I landed the perfect punch” and that “I knew he (Pacquiao) could knock me out at any moment,” he added.
In the case of Myaweather, Pacquiao put up a good fight with some boxing experts saying the fight could have been a draw as Pacquiao did most of the punching while Mayweather did most of the running.
While he failed to score a knockout in the last eight years, Pacquiao remains competitive as he delighted fans with a knockdown or a series of knockdowns in almost all of his fights since his KO win against Miguel Cotto.
On July 2, Pacquiao’s longtime trainer Freddie Roach wants no less than a KO win for the fighting senator. But Horn, who is unbeaten in his young career is confident he will pull off the upset of the night with his own version of power and speed.
It will be a tough fight for Horn as his credential is miles apart from Pacquiao’s long and checkered career.
Less than six weeks before the fight, Pacquiao says Horn can put up a good fight if he uses his height and reach advantages.
“Jeff Horn is taller than me (175cm to 168cm) and has a longer reach,” he said. “They are big advantages. If he knows how to use them he can make things tough. But if he does not know how to use those advantages, they will be useless for him,” he added.
Of course, Pacquiao won’t tell him how to use his physical advantages but if he and his trainer would be creative enough to capitalize on it, surely Horn can also put up a good fight and who knows he can pull off the upset.
