Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Manny Pacquiao is scared to rematch Jeff Horn and floated the idea of getting UFC superstar Conor McGregor to fight in Brisbane.
Horn caused the upset of the year when he beat Pacquiao by unanimous decision at Suncorp Stadium in June and was slated to rematch the boxing legend later this year.
Pacquiao pulled out of the fight late last week, citing commitments in the Philippines, where he is a Senator.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Palaszczuk – whose government was offering financial backing for the rematch – had some strong words for Pacquiao.
“Frankly, I think he’s a bit too scared to come and face Jeff Horn,” she said.
“For Manny not to reappear, really says to me that he knows Jeff is the world champion.”
Horn’s promoters, Duco, are looking for a replacement fight for late this year in Brisbane, with Palaszczuk going for the biggest name in combat sports.
“If we could get (Conor) McGregor, that would be great,” she said.
Good luck with that one.
McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas last weekend, with the bout reportedly smashing the pay-per-view record. Initial reports suggest the super-fight could have attracted 6.5 million PPV buyers, which would obliterate the previous record of 4.5 million for Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Pacquiao.
More likely potential replacements are Jesse Vargas, Miguel Cotto, Erroll Spence or Terence Crawford.
