Glenn Rushton, the head trainer for welterweight contender Jeff Horn (18-1-1, 12 KOs) has revealed a mishap with his boxer's shoes - in the days leading up to the anticipated showdown with Terence Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs).
This past Saturday night, Crawford captured the WBO welterweight title when he stopped Horn in nine rounds at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The bout was Horn's second defense of the title after capturing the belt with a shocking upset over Manny Pacquiao in July 2017.
According to Rushton, it might "sound like excuses" - but his boxer forgot his training shoes in Australia.
As a result, Horn was forced wear in a new pair as he prepared for the bout - and those shoes created severe blisters all over his feet.
"Unfortunately he got really bad blisters over here. He made a mistake and only packed one pair of shoes so he was a pair short," Rushton said to Daily Mail.
"He forgot his training shoes so his dad went out and bought him a new pair of Nikes here but they just gave him horrendous blisters. Two days before the fight, I was up squeezing huge amounts of liquid out of these blisters on his feet just so he could move because he could hardly move for the last four or five days out here.
"Just intense pain so it was very frustrating, but it's one of those things. A mistake on Jeff's part not to bring that second pair of shoes across - just a mishap."
Horn admits that he simply couldn't get his rhythm going in the contest.
"I just couldn't get in my rhythm... I really wanted to press him forward,' Horn said. "I was actually even thinking in my head, I'm like, I can just imagine what Jeff Fenech's saying right now, 'Stay on his chest, stay on his chest.' I wish I fought better and followed the game plan a little bit better. It just wasn't my night," Horn said.
