Pacquiao hopes for Mayweather rematch with good showing against Horn

As Manny Pacquiao gets prepared to take on Jeff Horn this weekend in Brisbane, Australia, he and trainer Freddie Roach are already looking towards the next big thing. This fight, of course, isn’t really a big thing at all, but if Pacquiao is to have any hopes of landing a second fight with Floyd Mayweather (which is a dubious proposition), he has to look good here.

"Manny is in a must-win situation. He wants a rematch with Mayweather," Roach said Tuesday at a gym next door to the Suncorp Stadium, where a 50,000-plus crowd is expected for the "Battle of Brisbane."

"With Mayweather you have to look good against an opponent, you have to be impressive."

Roach continues by admitting that if Pacquiao struggles with Horn this weekend then the writing will be on the wall, and it’ll probably be over for Manny. But Roach actually expects Pacquiao to put on a vintage performance, motivated by the prospect of avenging the Mayweather loss that Pacquiao still believes he won.

"If there's a chance, why not? I'm willing," Pacquiao said of a potential rematch with Mayweather.

That aside, Pacquiao went on to mention that he’s not going ignore Horn’s underdog mentality heading into this fight, knowing that Horn will be motivated to make a huge statement against someone of his stature.