JEFF Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton is a man seemingly out of touch with reality. Bordering on delusional, actually. And that’s bad for his fighter.
MISMATCH. Horn was totally outclassed for nine rounds last Sunday and dealt a harsh boxing lesson by the ultra-talented Terence Crawford before the referee mercifully called for the denouement of the fight.
It was totally a one-sided affair as the native of Omaha, Nebraska, outlanded Horn 155-58. In the last two rounds he connected on 47 of 77 power shots. Crawford repeatedly landed hard punches to the head and body and by the eighth round, it had become pointless and you got the sense the inevtiable was coming.
Crawford nearly dropped Horn at the bell in the eighth with a stiff and straight left hand. In the ninth, Crawford scored a knockdown and finished Horn off seconds later to become the new WBO welterweight champion. But this is what Rushton had to say about the fight: “He wasn’t dominating Jeff but just landing the crisper, cleaner shots to keep stealing those rounds.” I’m appalled.
HORN. He didn’t protest the stoppage of the fight and was quoted as saying “.. the ref said to me that he has my interests at heart, and I’m sure Jo, my wife, was happy about it.”
But Rushton wasn’t happy at all about the stoppage claiming that it was too quick and that Horn actually got hurt more against Manny Pacquiao.
Is this guy for real? And it that wasn’t enough , he was making the headlines again yesterday, claiming that Horn deserved a rematch.
DANGEROUS. This is where it gets dangerous. A fighter usually defers to his trainer when it comes to assessing his skills and his chances of victory. And this is where it becomes the moral obligation of a trainer to be honest, brutally if need be.
He didn’t deserve the verdict against Pacquiao. He doesn’t have the incandescence of Crawford. The TKO loss only served to illustrate the talent gap between Horn and the elite in the division. Rushton’s narrative will not fly. The more he deludes himself and Horn along with it, the more damage his fighter will suffer during fights.
Somebody stop this man.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on two certified ironmen, my bro Ramsey and Assistant City Prosecutor Benjo Luther Macion for finishing the first Ironman 70.3 in the Philippines at Subic Bay. Cheers guys. Mighty proud of you!