02-13-2020, 10:55 AM
Starting to lose himself’: Horn’s grim Mundine warning — and his own private battle revealed
When is enough actually enough?
Source: AAP
No boxer wants to be the guy who is fighting long after he should have stopped.
And more so now than ever, those in the sport are learning to get out before it’s too late.
For Jeff Horn, he’s getting a lesson in what not to do from Anthony Mundine, while fighting the same battle with his own family.
Horn, a former world champion, is used to getting in the ring, doing his thing, and more often-than-not, having his hand raised.
But for the last 18 months, he’s been involved in a fight with those closest to him. While he still has aspirations to get back to the top of world boxing, his family is ready for him to call it quits.
Horn brushed off retirement talk when he exacted revenge against Michael Zerafa in December of last year, and yet those questions didn’t float too far. And that’s largely because of the pressure that’s coming from within Horn’s circle.
Horn: Tszyu not readyHorn: Tszyu not ready1:43
“If it was up to my wife, I wouldn’t be fighting at all anymore,” Horn told foxsports.com.au.
“She’s learned to go, ‘I’ve had enough of it, I’ve dealt with it for so long now already, I’m happy for you not to get punched in the head anymore. I don’t want you to lose your mind.’
“I’m totally on the same page as [my family]. I don’t want to go on too long, and have anything go wrong with myself, but at the same time I feel like I’ve still got boxing to give, and I’m at the top of the game now.”
Horn admits he’s playing a dangerous game. It’s “very hard” to maintain the right frame of mind to win a fight when your family doesn’t even want you to step foot in the ring.
On April 22, he faces Tim Tszyu, who is seven years his junior and looking to take down the last name on his Australian boxing hit list before he can turn his attention to the rest of the world. And Horn has to train, and eventually get in the ring, knowing that his family openly disapproves.
“I believe that he’s not hungry anymore,” Tszyu told foxsports.com.au.
“He says that he’s going to train hard blah blah blah, but he’s not hungry as he was before the Pacquiao fight.
“I’m in the position where I am [hungry]. I’m ready to eat, and he’s just food on the plate.”
Horn’s promoter, Dean Lonergan, says his fighter’s been dealing with this for the past “year-and-a-half”.
“... His wife has big bearings on what he does,” Lonergan explained. “I know she hates seeing him in the ring, particularly when he’s getting hurt, and cut, and belted, and that’s just the nature of the beast for a fighter.”
Not exactly known for picking his opponents apart, Horn got to the top of world boxing by betting he was tougher than the guy across from him. And more often than not, he was right.
But it’s also seen him take damage. He went twelve rounds with Manny Pacquiao, was beaten to a pulp in nine against Terence Crawford, was stopped by Zerafa in the Battle of Bendigo, before overcoming some serious damage to win the sequel.
Point is, it hasn’t been a pretty ride. It has been lucrative, though, and Tszyu represents another big payday. But for his family, that money is no longer a good enough reason to continue.
“It is very hard to convince especially family members,” Horn said. “Close family members ... they’re the ones that really care [about me], and don’t care about anything to do with boxing or the money side of it.
“It doesn’t matter, they just want me to be healthy and happy, and if that’s not boxing, that’s what they would prefer.”
Would Horn hang them up before he actually wants to, because of that pressure? “Potentially,” he says.
Though, Horn added: “I really think though I have to get out more fights for myself, and this is one of them.
“I feel like I’ve got more left in the tank, and I would hate to retire and then come back at 35-plus, and go, ‘I want to have another fight’ ... I will not be that person.”
But while a 32-year-old Horn is dealing with retirement pressure, a 44-year-old Mundine is being talked about as a potential opponent for Zerafa.
“I look at Mundine, he retired, he’s been going for a long time now. He’s been punched in the head a heap of times — one really good one from me — and I think he needs to hang them up,” Horn said, with a hint of concern.
“You’re finally starting to see with Mundine ... he’s slightly starting to change, even if it’s not much.
“I think Mundine is starting to lose himself, and I definitely don’t want to be in that position he’s in.
“I don’t know why he’s still doing it; he’s made millions from the sport of boxing, he shouldn’t need to keep fighting. But he loves it. That’s the bad part for him. He actually loves that media attention, he loves proving people wrong.”
Mundine lost to John Wayne Parr, a career Muay Thai fighter, in what was supposed to be his farewell bout at the end of last year. Before that, he said he’d stop after being knocked out by Horn in 96 seconds in 2018.
“You don’t look at him and go, ‘Woah, he should really, really stop’, but people have said to me and I’ve noticed little cues that his talking is starting to change,” Horn said.
“When I saw Michael Zerafa chasing him ... I just shook my head, like ‘what is going on here?’
“It was just disappointing to see, because I feel like he did very well in his career and was right to hang up his gloves when he did because he couldn’t beat John Wayne Parr.
“But to come back and fight a young, hungry Michael Zerafa, I think that will definitely be the end of him.”
Horn learned the hard way against Zerafa just how damaging a loss can be. One step away from a world title fight, he landed on a snake and slid all the way back to the middle of the board.
A win in their rematch was his first step back. The Tszyu fight is the next on a long journey back to where he wants to be.
He sees the “hunger” in his next opponent’s eyes, “because I had that as well.”
“He wants to prove himself, and he is a dangerous, dangerous character to have in [the ring], and I’ve got to train my very best to beat him.”
If he can’t beat Tszyu, though, the path back to the top might just be too long, arduous, and unlikely to cancel out the voices telling him to stop.
When is enough actually enough?
Source: AAP
No boxer wants to be the guy who is fighting long after he should have stopped.
And more so now than ever, those in the sport are learning to get out before it’s too late.
For Jeff Horn, he’s getting a lesson in what not to do from Anthony Mundine, while fighting the same battle with his own family.
Horn, a former world champion, is used to getting in the ring, doing his thing, and more often-than-not, having his hand raised.
But for the last 18 months, he’s been involved in a fight with those closest to him. While he still has aspirations to get back to the top of world boxing, his family is ready for him to call it quits.
Horn brushed off retirement talk when he exacted revenge against Michael Zerafa in December of last year, and yet those questions didn’t float too far. And that’s largely because of the pressure that’s coming from within Horn’s circle.
Horn: Tszyu not readyHorn: Tszyu not ready1:43
“If it was up to my wife, I wouldn’t be fighting at all anymore,” Horn told foxsports.com.au.
“She’s learned to go, ‘I’ve had enough of it, I’ve dealt with it for so long now already, I’m happy for you not to get punched in the head anymore. I don’t want you to lose your mind.’
“I’m totally on the same page as [my family]. I don’t want to go on too long, and have anything go wrong with myself, but at the same time I feel like I’ve still got boxing to give, and I’m at the top of the game now.”
Horn admits he’s playing a dangerous game. It’s “very hard” to maintain the right frame of mind to win a fight when your family doesn’t even want you to step foot in the ring.
On April 22, he faces Tim Tszyu, who is seven years his junior and looking to take down the last name on his Australian boxing hit list before he can turn his attention to the rest of the world. And Horn has to train, and eventually get in the ring, knowing that his family openly disapproves.
“I believe that he’s not hungry anymore,” Tszyu told foxsports.com.au.
“He says that he’s going to train hard blah blah blah, but he’s not hungry as he was before the Pacquiao fight.
“I’m in the position where I am [hungry]. I’m ready to eat, and he’s just food on the plate.”
Horn’s promoter, Dean Lonergan, says his fighter’s been dealing with this for the past “year-and-a-half”.
“... His wife has big bearings on what he does,” Lonergan explained. “I know she hates seeing him in the ring, particularly when he’s getting hurt, and cut, and belted, and that’s just the nature of the beast for a fighter.”
Not exactly known for picking his opponents apart, Horn got to the top of world boxing by betting he was tougher than the guy across from him. And more often than not, he was right.
But it’s also seen him take damage. He went twelve rounds with Manny Pacquiao, was beaten to a pulp in nine against Terence Crawford, was stopped by Zerafa in the Battle of Bendigo, before overcoming some serious damage to win the sequel.
Point is, it hasn’t been a pretty ride. It has been lucrative, though, and Tszyu represents another big payday. But for his family, that money is no longer a good enough reason to continue.
“It is very hard to convince especially family members,” Horn said. “Close family members ... they’re the ones that really care [about me], and don’t care about anything to do with boxing or the money side of it.
“It doesn’t matter, they just want me to be healthy and happy, and if that’s not boxing, that’s what they would prefer.”
Would Horn hang them up before he actually wants to, because of that pressure? “Potentially,” he says.
Though, Horn added: “I really think though I have to get out more fights for myself, and this is one of them.
“I feel like I’ve got more left in the tank, and I would hate to retire and then come back at 35-plus, and go, ‘I want to have another fight’ ... I will not be that person.”
But while a 32-year-old Horn is dealing with retirement pressure, a 44-year-old Mundine is being talked about as a potential opponent for Zerafa.
“I look at Mundine, he retired, he’s been going for a long time now. He’s been punched in the head a heap of times — one really good one from me — and I think he needs to hang them up,” Horn said, with a hint of concern.
“You’re finally starting to see with Mundine ... he’s slightly starting to change, even if it’s not much.
“I think Mundine is starting to lose himself, and I definitely don’t want to be in that position he’s in.
“I don’t know why he’s still doing it; he’s made millions from the sport of boxing, he shouldn’t need to keep fighting. But he loves it. That’s the bad part for him. He actually loves that media attention, he loves proving people wrong.”
Mundine lost to John Wayne Parr, a career Muay Thai fighter, in what was supposed to be his farewell bout at the end of last year. Before that, he said he’d stop after being knocked out by Horn in 96 seconds in 2018.
“You don’t look at him and go, ‘Woah, he should really, really stop’, but people have said to me and I’ve noticed little cues that his talking is starting to change,” Horn said.
“When I saw Michael Zerafa chasing him ... I just shook my head, like ‘what is going on here?’
“It was just disappointing to see, because I feel like he did very well in his career and was right to hang up his gloves when he did because he couldn’t beat John Wayne Parr.
“But to come back and fight a young, hungry Michael Zerafa, I think that will definitely be the end of him.”
Horn learned the hard way against Zerafa just how damaging a loss can be. One step away from a world title fight, he landed on a snake and slid all the way back to the middle of the board.
A win in their rematch was his first step back. The Tszyu fight is the next on a long journey back to where he wants to be.
He sees the “hunger” in his next opponent’s eyes, “because I had that as well.”
“He wants to prove himself, and he is a dangerous, dangerous character to have in [the ring], and I’ve got to train my very best to beat him.”
If he can’t beat Tszyu, though, the path back to the top might just be too long, arduous, and unlikely to cancel out the voices telling him to stop.