Jeff Horn talks amateur pedigree, Mundine challenge and more

 
BEING labelled as potentially Australia’s best ever can be a curse as we have seen with others in the past.

 
But reading the headline to this story, it will soon dawn upon you that Jeffrey Horn (8-0, 6 KOs) has a world championship mentality as well as a cool and calm persona that feeds off this pressure. He lets Aus-Boxing in on his thoughts about his flourishing career and the fact he is ready to take on the best in the world.

 
Jeff Horn is a humble, quietly spoken almost “gentle” individual who has a self-belief very few possess. The 26-year-old Brisbane school teacher is a dangerous man, inside the ropes that is. The 2012 London Olympian is a talent that have many boxing pundits labelling him very early on in the piece as potentially being Australia’s best ever.

 
Being asked how he handles such a label from those in a country that traditionally place great expectation on its athletes, Horn responded in a fashion that is synonymous with his personality.

 
“I don’t really think about it to be honest. I mean it’s great that you are held in that regard by the public but I don’t let it get too me,” said Horn in an exclusive interview with Aus-Boxing. “I’ve always dealt with pressure well, maybe it’s my personality.”

 
“It seems that the bigger the fight, the better I perform. Having thousands of eyes on me only inspires me to great things so hopefully I can continue to do that”.

 
What is even more remarkable about Horn is the fact he didn’t pick up amateur competition until he was just 20. He started out saying that he believed boxing found him. He was thrown a pair of gloves late in his school days and himself and a friend donned one glove each and started sparring each other one-handed.

 
Since then he has competed at the 2011 World Amateur Championships where he lost to eventual Gold Medallist, Everton Lopes. Horn followed up with a great campaign at the London 2012 Olympics by making the round of 16. The Olympic experience and the level of competition is something Horn will never forget

 
“It was just incredible. The level of competition was very high and really hard. The skill level is just unbelievable,” Horn said. “Obviously the styles in amateur and professional competition differ, but not always. The experience of representing the Australian team and the whole atmosphere of the Games is something I’ll always cherish.”

 
Like many of his 2012 Olympic alumni, Horn has gone on to find success professionally very early in his career. Some of the names in the class of 2012 that have turned professional include skipper Luke Jackson, Cameron Hammond, Damien Hooper and Ibrahim Balla, who have all made blazing starts to their careers as professionals.

 
Hammond and Hooper are promoted by former world champ and Kostya Tszyu conqueror, Ricky Hatton. Also in this class was 2011 world junior champion, Jai Opetaia, who was the youngest ever to represent Australia at the tender age of 16.

 
Luke Jackson had this to say about his former teammate.

 
“Jeff is one of the quietest most humble guys I have ever met. He has a style that is quite hard to combat. He gets in and gets out very quickly and has knockout power,” Jackson explained. “He’s a very tricky customer and I can see him giving quite a few out there real problems.”

 
“We pushed each other a lot in the amateur days and as a result we bonded. His work ethic is second to none. Sky is the limit for him”.

 
Horn says he is ready to mix it with the world’s best at welterweight. His first eight fights haven’t been against easy opposition.

 
In those eight are names of highly developed fighters including current Australian titlist Rivan Cesaire, former two-time world title challenger Naoufel Ben Rabah and a brutal first round knockout of former Commonwealth title challenger and world rated welterweight, Samuel Colomban. Most recently, Horn dispatched of Brazilian, Fernando Ferreira da Silva by shoutout victory, knocking Da Silva down in the final round.

 
Horn’s New Zealand-based promotional outfit, DUCO Events holds Horn in high regard. So much so, earlier this year there was a $1 million dollar offer put to WBC #1 ranked light middleweight, and mandatory challenger for Floyd Mayweather’s belt, Anthony Mundine to fight Horn. DUCO did not hear back from Mundine’s camp.

 
Horn is scheduled to fight undefeated, Robson Assis on the 6th December in Hamilton, New Zealand to again move up the world rankings. A win almost certainly guarantees the star Queenslander a top ten world ranking.

 
Horn says that he is ready to challenge for a world title, and who would disagree with him?

 
The sky is the limit for Horn and we are only seeing the start of something very special.

 
 
Words: Dan Smart/Aus-Boxing
Photo: Getty Images (Asia Pacific)