Top Rank announces Manny Pacquiao's next fight against Jeff Horn

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:37 a.m. ET

Fansided, David Rouben/Fansided

Manny Pacquiao is one win away from taking his record to 60-6-2. That’s why he’ll look to accomplish that feat against marquee opponent… Jeff Horn.

Terence Crawford will have to wait even longer to get the opponent of his dreams, as Manny Pacquiao is getting set to snub him again. Even though his legacy is already set, and even though he has a spot in the Philippines Senate, Pacquiao can’t keep himself out of the ring. This will be his second fight since he retired against Tim Bradley, and after already angering people by choosing Jessie Vargas for his comeback fight, he went with an even lesser name in Jeff Horn.

Pacquiao’s accomplishments up to this point shouldn’t be ignored. He’s one win away from 60 in his career, and that’s a remarkable achievement. But by choosing a human punching bag, there shouldn’t be any drama surrounding whether he’ll get it.

Jeff Horn is certainly not a nobody in his hometown of Brisbane, Queensland. He has a 16-0-1 record, with 11 of his wins coming by knockout. But Manny Pacquiao is easily the biggest opponent he’s ever faced, and he’s even entertaining the thought of coming to Australia for said fight. That will be a grand spectacle, and one that the hometown crowd can certainly get behind. Depending on how Horn conducts himself in the build-up, he could become a lovable underdog.

But like I said before, Jeff Horn is not Terence Crawford. At this point, he’s the only person who is up to Pacquiao’s level of competition, and he should’ve fought him after his loss to Floyd Mayweather.

But by choosing Bradley for a third time, Vargas, and now Horn, Pacquiao hasn’t even tried to win back the fans he lost in the wake of the Mayweather fight. It’s not as if he can say Top Rank is forcing these bouts on him — he has the power to pick and choose whoever he wants. Perhaps being a Senator forces Pacquiao to have a shortened training camp, which is why he wants guaranteed wins. But if that’s the case, why even come back to fight at all?

I’m not saying boxing is dying, but when your top stories are a celebrity match between Soulja Boy and Chris Brown, as well as fighters lining up to call out someone from the UFC, something’s clearly wrong. Boxing has always been a star-driven sport, and it helps nobody when the biggest names fight no-names like this. The only thing that would make this bout memorable is if Horn wins. Once the opening line comes out, he’ll certainly feel like he’s got nothing to lose.