Manny Pacquiao headed toward April 22 showdown with little known Jeff Horn

It is not done and there are several variables to sort out, not the least of which is Manny Pacquiao’s approval himself, but all indications are that the Filipino senator is headed toward an April 22 showdown with little known Australian Jeff Horn.

It all also means that Pacquiao yet again will be skipping on a fight with the best possible opponent, the highly regarded super lightweight champion Terence Crawford.

Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum told RingTV on Tuesday that he’d come to terms with Dean Lonergan of Duco Events for Horn to fight Pacquiao. There is still no site nor has Pacquiao agreed to face Horn. Arum plans to fly to the Philippines to speak with Pacquiao.

Arum also doesn’t yet have a U.S. television deal, which will further complicate things. A Pacquiao-Horn fight would almost certainly seem to be a bomb on pay-per-view and in all likelihood would do a smaller figure than the roughly 215,000 sales Pacquiao did on Nov. 5 for his bout with Jessie Vargas. Arum told ESPN that pay-per-view isn’t a primary consideration and that there is a chance the fight will be on some form of free television in the U.S.

“We have an agreement with Horn but it’s all subject to Manny’s approval,” Arum told RingTV. “And it’s all subject to getting a site. So it’s still up in the air but it looks like it’s headed (to a bout with Horn).”

Horn, 28, is 16-0-1 but he has beaten no Top 10 fighters when they were in his prime. The biggest names on his resume are Randall Bailey, a power-puncher who was long past his prime when Horn defeated him in April; and Ali Funeka, who lost lightweight title fights to Nate Campbell in 2009 and Joan Guzman in 2010.

Arum said he is considering venues in Australia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.