Duco’s Aussie ready for Manny
Bout a chance of a lifetime for Jeff Horn, writes Phil Lutton.
Jeff Horn isn’t quite sure how he’s landed here, in a fight that could propel him to stardom or, even in failure, begin a path that sets him up financially for the rest of his life.
He’s already moved past the contemplation stage. Duco Events found him, legendary Top Rank promoter Bob Arum seems to dig him and Manny Pacquiao, the multi-division superstar from the Philippines, is set to square off with him. For now, that’s more than enough to digest.
‘‘I guess I speak well, I translate to a lot of different people,’’ Horn says. ‘‘I don’t know . . . I’m just glad he [Arum] likes me.’’
It might all happen in Brisbane, Horn’s home town, on April 23 if the various parties can come to the table with acceptable amounts of money and Pacquiao signs off on the arrangement. The surrounds would be the famed cauldron of Suncorp Stadium, where the legends of Wally Lewis and Origin snake through every blade of grass.
Glenn Rushton, Horn’s trainer and another intriguing character in this left-field sporting production that’s dropped out of the sky like a cartoon piano, feels the time is right for another fable to be written. ‘‘I believe so – his doubters will have egg on their face,’’ says Rushton, who looks like a sensei from a 1970s kung-fu movie but manages a $70 million investment fund when he’s not looking after fighters.
‘‘Naturally I respect Manny Pacquiao for everything he’s achieved in the sport. But when you start to weigh it up, you will see what we have in Jeff Horn. You can’t see the future, but I believe we’re looking at a future legend.
‘‘Now, they’re saying, ‘Who the hell is Jeff Horn?’ After, they’ll know all about Jeff Horn.’’ So, who the hell is Jeff Horn? He’s 28, a London 2012 quarterfinalist and a former PE teacher who found he was good enough at boxing to walk away from the classroom.
He has 16 wins and a draw from his 17 pro bouts and has little interest in the great historical figures of the sweet science. If he’s watching boxing, it’s because he’s studying his next opponent, not because he just read The Fight and has been caught up in the romance of it all.
‘‘When I watch them, I believe I can beat these guys,’’ Horn says. ‘‘Whenever I thought that in the past, it’s come true. Why not now?’’
‘‘Manny has done it in so many weight divisions. But he hasn’t been able to knock out guys my size for quite a while, and that gives me an advantage.’’
Horn is barely known outside Brisbane, which has seen the proposed fight panned by American fans, who believe the 38-year-old Pacquiao will be given an easy time of things on Arum’s proposed world tour of bouts in 2017. The Manny roadshow probably has as much to do with his future in Filipino politics as it does his legacy in the ring.
The scepticism is understandable to a point, but shouldn’t devalue the contest. Horn is the 11th best welterweight in the BoxRec rankings and the No 2 contender to Pacquiao’s WBO belt. Not everything needs to be viewed through the prism of US pay-perview sales, and a big local television audience and 50,000 in an arena would more than pay the bills.
For Australian fans, this is a real and meaningful bout on home soil at long last, which parks the Mundine-Green sideshow in the shade and reverses over the fascination with footballers trying to be pugs. If locals can’t get behind this one – a hugely likeable Australian talent up against a modern icon of the sport – boxing really could be dead Down Under.
And for Horn, even a stoic defeat will be like an early career Christmas present. He wants to be out of the fight game by the time he is 35 and knows this is his chance to stand, deliver and reap the rewards.
‘‘I realised what an attraction he is because you don’t get people like that . . . clean-cut kids, former school teachers . . . in boxing,’’ Arum says. ‘‘That’s something that’s really unusual, not only for boxing but for most sports.
‘‘If he did what was the ultimate for him – if he beat Manny – then he would be a worldwide figure. But if he competed against Manny, gave Manny a hell of a fight, it would still help him because he’d be seen by a vast audience in the United States and around the world and people would realise what a talent he is.’’
The ball is now in the court of the various state events bodies, who can now make their bids to host an event that would easily be one of the biggest in Australia this year, no matter the venue. Such is the pulling power of Pacquiao that promoters are confident any arena or stadium would sell, whether that be in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne.
The rest is up to Horn, whose low profile and mild manner outside of the ring doesn’t reflect his capability with the gloves. Even if The Hornet isn’t a natural at talking a big game, Rushton doesn’t lack confidence in what his man can achieve.
‘‘I’ve had 10 years of this with Jeff and now, when he gets out in the ring, he’s almost in a trance-like state,’’ Rushton says.
‘‘Outside the ring, he’s a happy guy. Inside the ring, he’s The Hornet.’’ Any issue with southpaws? ‘‘He eats southpaws for breakfast,’’ Rushton says.
At least that’s settled.