Manny Pacquiao to fight Australian Jeff Horn

In what Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told ESPN on Tuesday night could be the first in a series of overseas fights for Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino legend will defend his welterweight world title against Australia’s Jeff Horn on April 22.

Arum met Tuesday in Las Vegas with Dean Lonergan of Duco Events, with whom he became promotional partners on newly crowned heavyweight world titleholder Joseph Parker and other boxers in the Duco stable last month, and came to an agreement on the bout.

«Horn and his management have agreed on the purse and now we’re working on a site,» Arum said. «We’ll know the location of the fight in the next few days.»

Arum said the fight will take place at one of various sites in Australia under consideration or in the United Arab Emirates — Dubai or Abu Dhabi — where Arum said there are offers.

«Once we have a location then I’ll fly over to the Philippines to meet with Manny and finalize everything on our side,» Arum said. «But he is going to fight Jeff Horn.»