Pacquiao expected to boost Queensland tourism numbers with Horn fight
By Anthony Cocks
After three weeks of negotiation Kiwi boxing promoters Duco Events have secured financial backing from the Queensland State Government and the Brisbane City Council to bring the WBO welterweight world title fight between reigning champion Manny Pacquiao 59-6-2 (38) and Australian challenger Jeff Horn 16-0-1 (11) to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on April 23 (April 22 in the USA).
According to the Courier-Mail’s Grantlee Kieza, the multi-million-dollar deal has been agreed to in principal between Horn’s promotor Duco and Pacquiao’s promoter Top Rank. All that is pending is final sign-off from the Filipino Senator.
The fight represents a major coup for Queensland, who have long struggled to get a foothold into the lucrative events-based tourism market against their more cashed-up rivals Sydney and Melbourne. Brisbane and Queensland are expected to receive 8 minutes of editorial content during the broadcast to promote the city and state respectively as tourist destinations.
Queensland State Tourism and Major Events Minister Kate Jones is rapt with the result and is expecting the bout to generate millions of dollars in tourism from both the domestic and international markets.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk was equally chuffed. Speaking to the Courier Mail, Quirk was quoted as saying the bout would help Brisbane to be seen as a “global new world city”.
The opportunity to see one of the greatest fighters of the last quarter century live and in action is expected to draw up to 50,000 spectators from both Australia and the nearby Philippines according to Dean Lonergan from Duco Events, who has called it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the greatest boxers of all time”.
Horn expects the hometown advantage to give him an extra boost in what will be by far and away his biggest challenge as a prizefighter.
“It’s bigger than anything I could have dreamed about when I took up boxing,” said Horn, who recently revealed that the very first fight he ever watched was Pacquiao’s eight round drubbing of “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya in 2008. “The support of the crowd in Brisbane might just be the difference between winning and losing for me.”
The only thing that can prevent this fight from becoming a reality in beautiful BrisVegas is Pacquiao’s John Hancock on the fight contract.
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