Horn in peak form to topple Mundine

A STRONGER and fitter Jeff Horn has predicted he will beat Anthony Mundine “quite comfortably” but said he was prepared to bide his time.

The Horn- Mundine clash has been confirmed for Suncorp Stadium on November 30, in an event tipped to put an extra $ 5 million into the state’s economy.

Horn’s reign as WBO welterweight champion ended at the hands of Terrence Crawford in a brutal Las Vegas bout in June, when the Brisbanebased fighter had to lose several kilos to make the weight.

The agreed weight of 71kg for this fight is a more comfortable fit for “The Hornet”, with Mundine the one who has to go through the pain barrier this time.

“I will be sitting 3- 4kg heavier just walking around normally than what I was going into the Vegas fight. I will be able to walk around at my normal mid- 70 weight and then cut down a few kilos going into the fight,” Horn said.

“Already coming back from Vegas and hitting the bag at the weight I am now, I feel like the power has gone up.

“Because I don’t have to cut as much weight, I can last longer in there, because my fitness won’t be impacted from having to lose weight.”

Promoter Dean Lonergan has tipped Horn to deliver a beating to Mundine but Horn is wary of going for a quick kill.

“A lot of people will be expecting me to finish him early and go for the knockout,” Horn said. “The pressure with that is if you do look for it too much and it doesn’t come, you can look scrappy and messy.”

Horn is also aware his performance will go a long way to determining where his career heads next.

“To get stopped in my last fight controversially, it might have been a bit early for the ref to jump in and stop that fight,” Horn said. “It would be good to come back and get a knockout and get my confidence up against Mundine.”