Manny Pacquiao further fuelled belief that his next fight will be staged in the UAE when the eight-weight champion took to Twitter on Monday to ask his legion of fans who his next opponent should be.
After tweeting on Sunday "See you in UAE for my next fight. #TeamPacquiao", the Filipino fighter again used social media to ask his 108,000 Twitter followers: "Who do you want me to fight next in the UAE?"
He gave four potential opponents: Amir Khan, Jeff Horn, Terence Crawford and Kell Brook. As of noon UAE time, British boxer Khan, a two-time champion at light-welterweight, was way out in front with 47 per cent of more than 14,000 votes cast, followed by Terence Crawford of the United States (25%), Brook (23%) and Horn on just five per cent.
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■ Manny Pacquiao: 'See you in UAE for my next fight'
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This latest development only adds more uncertainty to an already discombobulated situation. Pacquiao’s Top Rank promoters had been in talks with Duco Events about a proposed fight to defend his WBO Welterweight title against Australian challenger Horn (16-0-1) slated for April 23 in Brisbane.
Sunday’s tweet, however, followed comments by one of Pacquiao’s advisers in Abu Dhabi on Saturday that the Pacquiao-Horn fight would “100 per cent” be staged in the UAE with Abu Dhabi or Dubai mooted as host cities.
“I’m here with full authority and power. I have been the marriage counsellor for Manny and we have developed a relationship,” Michael Koncz said. “I’m involved in all aspects of what he does. We have executed the agreement in the morning and 100 per cent the fight will be here in the UAE.”
However, an event of that magnitude would certainly require the involvement and approval of either the Abu Dhabi Sports Council or the Dubai Sports Council. Yet sources at each told The National on Sunday the respective organisations were unaware of any such plans.
Sunday's news has surprised organisers in Australia, as well. A report in the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Duco's Dean Lonergan, who said he believed negotiations were continuing to host the fight at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
“For the last six weeks I’ve been dealing with Bob Arum and Top Rank, since he’s the promoter of Manny Pacquiao, to put this together,” Lonergan said in Sunday’s edition. “We now get to the point where we think we can get close to closing it so it’s going to be in Australia.
“As far as I’m concerned this has totally come out of the blue” he said in reference to the venue switching to the UAE. “We’re just going to have to wait and see if there’s any substance to the story.”
Pacquiao (59-6-2), who is also a senator in the Philippines House of Representatives, made a successful return to the ring on November 5 with a unanimous decision over Jessie Vargas following a short retirement to pursue his career in politics. Horn, 29, has 16 wins from 17 fights with one draw.
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