Ready to rumble

One- time world champ keeping it real ahead of highly- anticipated clash with Anthony ‘ The Man’ Mundine, writes Terry Mallinder

IT’S a blockbuster all- Australian match- up, but home- grown pugilists Jeff Horn and Anthony Mundine are worlds apart when it comes to their approach to bouts.

Veteran Mundine, 43, has become infamous in the past two decades, more so for his mouth than his fists, having embraced the trash talking that is very much a part of boxing overseas.

In contrast, Horn, 30, is a mildmannered former school teacher who has a philosophy that actions speak louder than words.

“There’s always pressure to crank it up … outside pressures from promoters and things. Talk the fight up … say different things,” Horn says. “But look, I’m just not very good at it. It’s not one of my strengths. I just like training hard, speaking the truth and then getting out there and showing what I can do.”

While he prefers not to shoot off at the mouth, the Brisbane boy is adamant Friday night’s showdown with ‘ The Man’ is a “massive fight”.

From a global perspective, it doesn’t rank alongside his welterweight world title bouts against the great Manny Pacquiao and Amer- ican upstart Terence Crawford.

But it certainly has national importance.

“Who’s the number one Australian boxer? That’s what we’re fighting for,” Horn says.

“He keeps saying that he is. I guess on November 30 we will definitely find out.”

It is believed to be Mundine’s last fight.

“Mundine is someone that I’ve watched for many years,” Horn says. “He’s the one I was watching when I started getting into the sport.

“He definitely sold himself very well. I guess he did it a different way to how I would’ve done it.”

Mundine himself, in his own forthright way, declared he was “gonna bust Horn up”, that he was “quicker, bigger, stronger”, and that his opponent has only had “one good fight”, referring to his shock win over Pacquiao.

That victory gave Horn the WBO welterweight belt, which he ultimately lost in Las Vegas this year to Crawford.

Horn is happy to be back on home soil in Brisbane, with the crowd well and truly in his corner, ringside or watching at home.

“It’s an amazing feeling walking into a packed stadium like that … having the cheer of the crowd really pump you up in those rounds that you need to dig deep,” he says.

The fight will be shown on Foxtel’s Main Event. You can order through mainevent. com. au, the MyFoxtel app, your Foxtel remote or by calling 131 999.

Horn v Mundine – Main Event – Friday at 6.30pm Qld, 7.30pm NSW