CITY IN HORN’S SIGHTS
FIGHT DATE REVEALED
AUSTRALIAN boxing star Jeff Horn could bring his next world title fight to Townsville should he overcome rising star Tim Tszyu next month.
The Townsville Bulletin understands Australian boxing’s superfight between Horn and Tszyu is slated for late August at Queensland Country Bank
Stadium, which is now technically able to hold a 50 per cent capacity crowd following the latest lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
“We’re eight weeks out and Jeff is on a very strong trajectory. Jeff’s probably getting back to where he was before Pacquiao,” Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton said.
AUSTRALIAN boxing star Jeff Horn could bring his next world title fight to Townsville should he overcome rising star Tim Tszyu next month.
The Townsville Bulletin understands Australian boxing’s superfight between Horn and Tszyu is slated for Wednesday, August 26, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, which is now technically able to hold a 50 per cent capacity crowd following the latest lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
The bout, nicknamed Rumble on the Reef, was originally scheduled for April 22 – also a Wednesday night – before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and postponed the bout.
Horn’s camp is hopeful a full crowd will be able to attend the superfight with the further easing of restrictions and, should Horn outfight Tszyu, bring an even bigger show to North Queensland.
“We’d like to bring that world title back to Townsville,” Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton said. “It makes sense to bring a champion over from the US and bring them to Australia to a nice, clean environment to fight in.”
Horn beat Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao to grab the WBO welterweight title at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium in 2017, and retained it after scoring a technical knockout of Gary Corcoran later that year.
Horn held his world title for 14 months before losing to American bruiser Terence Crawford via a ninth round KO in Las Vegas. Since then he made the jump up to the middleweight division and defeated Anthony Mundine in less than two minutes in November 2018, before beating Michael Zerafa in a December rematch last year after losing their first bout in August.
But Rushton was keen to stress that a potential world title bout is taking a back seat as he and Horn set their sights on Tszyu.
Tszyu told the Bulletin earlier this year of his intentions to emerge from the shadows of his father, Australian boxing great Kostya.
“We have to get past a young and very hungry Tim Tszyu,” Rushton said.
“We’re eight weeks out and Jeff is on a very strong trajectory. Jeff’s probably getting back to where he was before Pacquiao … His attitude is the best I’ve seen since the Pacquiao fight.”
Rushton is well aware of North Queensland’s love for the sweet science and is firmly in the region’s corner when it comes to landing big fights.
Born in Brisbane, Rushton moved to Townsville with his family when he was nine and remained here for much of his formative years.
“We moved to the Bohle and lived in a tin shed my dad built, which was supposed to be temporary, but we stayed there a lot longer than planned, and then we moved to Railway Estate and I went to school at Railway Estate,” he said. “We then went to Gulliver and I went to school at Pimlico (State High School).
“Our family has a lot of history in the city; my grandfather came from England and settled in Townsville.”
Now a successful executive in the finance sector when away from boxing, Rushton said Townsville was sure to embrace the upcoming superfight. “I think by the time COVID restrictions are reduced even further it will be packed stadium,” he said.