Horn turns down big payday for new baby

BOXING JEFF Horn has put family first and walked away from a fight deal worth close to $2 million because it clashed with the birth of his second child.

Horn, now the No.2 ranked middleweight in the world, was offered a seven-figure payday plus Australian TV rights to face Japan’s former world middleweight champ Ryota Murata in Tokyo on July 12. He said no because his wife Jo is due to give birth three weeks earlier.

They already have a 16month old daughter, Isabelle.

“My family has come first,’’ Horn said.

“Jo really needs me to help her in the weeks after the birth and I want to be there too. To me that’s a lot more precious than money or winning a big fight.’’

Negotiations for Horn’s next fight after his 96-second always blitzing of Anthony Mundine in November had involved weeks of planning between Horn’s promoter Dean Lonergan, American Bob Arum and Murata’s manager Akihiko Honda.

Murata won the Olympic gold medal in London in 2012 but in his last fight, on October 20, lost his WBA world middleweight title to American Rob Brant.

Lonergan said he had tried to bring Brant to Australia to defend the world title but could not make the fight “stack up financially’’.

“Bob Arum then graciously offered us the fight with Murata in Tokyo on June 2,’’ Lonergan said.

“That date suited us but they pushed the fight out to July 12 and Jeff said that ... he wouldn’t take it no matter how much money was on the table.’’

Horn is now likely to have his next fight in Australia in late August or September.