By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao told the Australian press on his arrival in Brisbane on Saturday that he is in his best fighting shape for the July 2 (July 1st in the USA) defense of the championship against WBO #1 Jeff Horn at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Pacman also denied reports from the press in the Philippines that he has not trained hard for this title bout.

“Training is good, we did a lot of hard work. I am very excited for the fans to give a good show and to show my best in the boxing ring,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. “Some reports coming out of the Philippines that I haven’t been training hard are not true. It just happens that when some of our friends came around to our training camp, we weren’t doing much and people assumed I wasn’t training hard.”

Ticket sales have surpassed 45,000 and attendance is expected to be 55,000+.