From nerd to giant-killer
WORLD welterweight boxing champion Jeff Horn last night won the highest honour in Australian sport — The Don award — to complete an astonishing journey that began with a bruised ego and a battered old Volvo.
The mild-mannered former Brisbane schoolteacher, who pushed himself to the absolute limits of physical and mental exhaustion to outpoint all-time boxing great Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stad- ium on July 2, joins such Australian heroes as Don Bradman, Dawn Fraser, Cadel Evans and Ian Thorpe in the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame.
“This is a dream come true,’’ said Horn, 29 after being presented with the award at Crown Palladium.
“The year I’ve had has been the most incredible time you could imagine. My wife, Jo, and I still shake our heads. When she met me I was a school nerd getting picked on by bullies. Now I’m a world boxing champion, about to become a dad and the winner of this incredible The Don award. Thanks everyone for supporting me.’’
Horn, who picked up more than $1 million by beating Pacquiao, will receive another $1 million for his first defence of the World Boxing Organisation title set for December 15 in Brisbane against tough Englishman Gary Corcoran.
“Eleven years ago I drove my old Volvo down to Glenn Rushton’s home gym in Stretton,” Horn said.
“I didn’t follow boxing at all then and I certainly had no plans on becoming a fighter. I’d been picked on a lot at school and I just wanted to learn some self-defence and gain a bit of confidence. I had just started going out with Jo and I wanted to be able to get us out of trouble if someone picked on me.
“Glenn not only taught me selfdefence but he taught me to believe in myself. Eleven years later he taught me how to beat Manny Pac- quiao, one of the greatest fighters of all time.
“Glenn and I refused to give up on my dream,’’ Horn said.
“I tell people everywhere I go that they can change their life too if they refuse to quit.
“You might be hurting, you might be downhearted, you might have everything going against you. But hang in there. Don’t quit. I have a big, shiny red-and-gold belt that says ‘ WORLD CHAMPION’ on it to prove what can happen when you keep going against the odds.’’