PACKING A PUNCH
HORN BACKS COAST BOXER:
WORLD champion Jeff Horn has given Rohan Murdock a massive rap ahead of the Gold Coast boxer’s appearance on the undercard to his world title defence.
Murdock’s last victory against Tanzanian Said Mbelwa won the attention of super promoter Bob Arum and opportunities for his own world title fight could lie ahead in the super middleweight class if the 25-year-old is able to capitalise on his chance next month.
“Rohan’s very strong, he’s very fit and he comes to fight every time, so I think he can go a really long way as long as he believes in himself, which I think he does,” Horn said.
Murdock was pencilled in on the undercard for the Horn-Manny Pacquiao fight in July but injury prevented him from taking his place, something he is keen to make up for next month.
“To be on a Jeff Horn card, that’s what every boxer in Australia wants at the moment, so I’m going to make the most of it and it’s a really good opportunity for me,” Murdock said.
“I’ve been out for a year due to injury and I’ve finally got a straight line of fights coming up. It feels awesome, especially a card like this, televised worldwide and the exposure’s going to be awesome for me.”
After the frustration of injury, Murdock is pinching himself at the thought that Horn and Arum in his corner.
“Bob Arum is the biggest promoter in the world, so to hear him speak my name, it’s unbelievable stuff and it just gives me more motivation to give me what I want and to realise it’s all possible and it can happen,” Murdock said.
Murdock said he drew great inspiration from Horn’s efforts against Pacquiao and wanted to launch his own world title campaign.
“Seeing an Aussie boxer do it, he feels like one of us, so it gave us massive confidence to be able to go out there and do what he did,” said Murdock, who trains with Chris Cardin at Platinum Boxing Club at Nerang.
“With my next fight, I’ll be fighting a world rated fighter, at this stage it looks like No.6 and by winning that fight we’ll steal his ranking and then we’ll go from there and be world rated. My goal is to win the world title, so we’re hoping within 12-18 months we can get the right fights and make that a reality.”