Why Does the Boxing World Dislike Jeff Horn?

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By Bradley “The Bulldog” Johnson

In boxing and in all sports, there are some athletes that we just choose to vilify. Floyd Mayweather, JR. did a great job of selling the bad guy image and cashing in on it. Tom Brady just goes out and wins and people tend to despise him for doing it. Winning too much, as Floyd and Tom have done is often a reason to cause mass resentment. Build them up and break them down seems to be the American way.

Jeff Horn on the other hand, well, I’m not exactly sure what he did to warrant the boxing world to associate such distain when they utter his name. Don’t get me wrong, I felt the same way on July 2nd 2017 when the judge’s robbed my favorite fighter of all time Manny Pacquiao, of his WBO welterweight title.

Then I watched the fight a second time, and maybe it wasn’t quite the robbery I and others had made it out to be. As fans, we sometimes look for all the factors that fit our made-up narratives to let us just feel better about what happened.

Instead of saying Jeff Horn fought a hell of a fight against a Manny Pacquiao that is now a half step slower and may have been downgraded from a hurricane 5, to a tropical storm. We say its fixed, its Bob Arum’s plan, it’s the judges, it’s because it was in Australia, and somehow that is Jeff Horn’s fault.

Jeff Horn, 18-0-1, 12 KO’s did what we ask out of boxers who step into the squared circle. Show heart, don’t back down, and fight your ass off. Jeff did just that, and people seem to hate him for it. I understand, he wasn’t as technically sound as you would like, he beat a fading superstar, his defense was sloppy, he led with his head too much which caused headbutts and cuts.

He was hurt worse in round 9 than Wilder was in round 7 and still hung on. Then in round ten, when it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that this round wouldn’t last long and Pacquiao would win by KO. (Some of us even bet on it). Horn came out in round 10 and fought like his career depended on it and probably did. If that fight gets stopped in round 9 or 10, the whole story is how Manny had trouble with a no-name fighter, and that 30-year-old fighter who was also a school teacher probably has to start over again. Instead he has a chance to put his name and career under the bright lights again, and good for him. He held up his part of the bargain.

Now many boxing fans are excited to see the destruction of Jeff Horn via Terence Crawford as if a long-lost villain is finally getting his just due, even though I’m not sure how he became the villain. The bout was originally scheduled for April 14th, but due to Crawford suffering an injury in sparring the fight is being delayed till a further date.

An apparent injury to Crawford’s right hand is the reason for the delay. Jeff Horn wasted no time coming out and questioning Crawford’s heart and toughness, and good for him. I like the fact that after the beaten he has been taking in and out of the ring that he is still firing back. Not only did he call Crawford a “Princess”, say he was protected, and that he must need more time to train for this challenge but also said this.

“He has to harden up. It’s just a slight hand injury, get a bit of cortisone in it. Just grind through it and get the job done. This is just not Australian. We wouldn’t do that. We would’ve proceeded if it was us”.

With all that being said, Crawford is a mean man in the ring and will probably make Horn pay for his words when the time comes, but you got to love Horn’s willingness to engage in the banter. Horn will be a heavy underdog in this fight and rightfully so.

Terence Crawford is young, strong, sharp with his punches, and ferocious in the ring. The question is, will his power come with him when he moves up to welterweight for the first time? Horn will be the bigger man in the ring and will go out on his shield if necessary and probably will. That is no reason to hate the man though. I give him a punchers chance, I’m sure he gives himself one also.

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