Reportedly due to his commitments as a senator in the Phillipines, Manny Pacquiao will not be taking his contractually obligated rematch this November in Australia against Jeff Horn. Horn does still plan to defend on the 12th, however, and Jessie Vargas is being floated as a potential opponent.
Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) upset living legend Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) in July to capture his WBO welterweight strap. At least that is what the judges said happened. General consensus calls the decision a robbery. Personally I thought it was a competitive fight, but I agreed that the Filipino icon deserved the nod at the end. Pacquiao had a rematch clause in the contract for that bout and he was expected to exercise it, but unfortunately he reportedly has government duties that will prevent that from happening.
Without Pacquiao. Jeff Horn still plans on defending his belt on November 12th. The early frontrunner for the title shot is Top Rank’s Jessie Vargas, the man Pacquiao took that belt from to begin with. That is a good matchup that I could definitely get behind. It would really help sort out the back end of the top ten in the division. Horn and his team at Duco Events have been working well with Top Rank so it stands to reason that this would be a very workable fight too.
Finally, Pacquiao is also reportedly pledging to pursue the rematch in 2018. He is not retiring or moving on to a different matchup.
Source: BoxingScene.com
