Comments Thread For: Horn Promoter Shakes Head on Anthony Mundine Showdown

[Corelone]

You guys are as bad as his corner. He needs to jab, and he needs to quit leading with his face. Putting on weight will not fix his problems. Whatever he's doing, it's not boxing.

[Marvlus Marv]

It's hard to see where Horn goes from here. His style isn't exactly must-watch and he'll fade into obscurity again if he stays in Australia. He needs to relocate if he wants to stay relevant. I hope he hangs about in the US because I feel that having Australian representation is good for boxing. But really, the Aussies should be producing more top level pros, imo.

[Tomjas]

You are right in one respect, but you have to understand the Australia culture to understand that their comments on based on anything other than being naive. It’s kind of similar to a small town in America, if you are locally a great ball player or whatever, people think the world is their oyster, they’re not dumb or deluded just naive.

Australians are like that about a lot of things, their country is quite isolated, so they’re media blitzes then with good news stories about local heroes because in reality they’re a bit thin on the ground, especially boxing which is a sport most people view with a very low opinion.

Australia has a very high number of world class sportspeople per capita and in most cases it's easy to judge their relative merit as they are competing internationally at the top level on a regular basis

Boxing is different as it's a tiny niche sport in which 99.9% of the population rarely gets interested

Given that, they are definitely naive when it comes to boxing but the same cant be said for the vast majority of things

[Tomjas]

It's hard to see where Horn goes from here. His style isn't exactly must-watch and he'll fade into obscurity again if he stays in Australia. He needs to relocate if he wants to stay relevant. I hope he hangs about in the US because I feel that having Australian representation is good for boxing. But really, the Aussies should be producing more top level pros, imo.

Won't happen unless some things radically change

Fact is that the vast majority of elite junior sportsmen are targeted at a young age by other sports and given incentives to commit elsewhere e.g. my 11yo played for the state last year in another sport and was offered 3 full scholarships to high schools as a result on condition that he plays that sport

Boxing can't/doesn't offer the same so only a tiny % will ever contemplate taking up the sport

Far more likely to see more Australians at the top level in MMA than boxing as many youngsters practice those sports from a young age

[sportbuddha]

Australia has a very high number of world class sportspeople per capita and in most cases it's easy to judge their relative merit as they are competing internationally at the top level on a regular basis

Boxing is different as it's a tiny niche sport in which 99.9% of the population rarely gets interested

Given that, they are definitely naive when it comes to boxing but the same cant be said for the vast majority of things

Yes, I agree, per capita it is fair to say they are a sporting nation with strong representation in outside sports, possibly one reason boxing is a ‘fringe’ sport

[Tomjas]

Yes, I agree, per capita it is fair to say they are a sporting nation with strong representation in outside sports, possibly one reason boxing is a ‘fringe’ sport

Mentioned this in another thread

If Joshua was Australian, there’s more chance of him being a league player than heavyweight champion

Mainstream sports target elite young kids here and provide incentives which are hard for parents to knock back

They also target the Mums and they generally don’t want Little Johnny to be a boxer

AFL, soccer and basketball are massive with juniors for that very reason

[Letmaku]

Pacquiao rematch is possible if they will pay double. Good retirement for 40 yr old unretired legend. Horn will be the only one who beat Pacquiao twice. They are both well known.

[Kiowhatta]

If horn wants to cement his position as a gatekeeper at 154, which is the only place for him to go, his team can't seriously keep draining him down to 147, then forget Mundine, he is yesterday's news.

A fight with Michael Katsidis (if he's still punching) would be more productive and exciting, with Katsidis also having a tough, rugged come forward no matter what style.

Horn needs a couple of tune-ups at 154 before trying to woo one of the one-man sideshows not interested in unification (Charlo, Hurd).
He could chase down lucrative fights against Khan, Brook, Lara, Trout, Smith, who will see him as a stepping stone to another title shot-especially Brook who has the skills but not the cheekbones.

I could see Horn v Brook on an undercard or network, but now way PPV. Brook would use Horn as a confidence booster if he can get past him.

However, if Horn remains stubborn at 147 he will just simply be knocked back to Australia after one more fight in the U.S where he will have to either completely rebuild, stay on the local circuit or go back to teaching. He's reached as high as he can go.

[Biolink]

How is Mundine gonna make 154. Dude would be a skeleton

[Kiowhatta]

Mentioned this in another thread

If Joshua was Australian, there’s more chance of him being a league player than heavyweight champion

Mainstream sports target elite young kids here and provide incentives which are hard for parents to knock back

They also target the Mums and they generally don’t want Little Johnny to be a boxer

AFL, soccer and basketball are massive with juniors for that very reason

Very true.

For young kids, the pathways to elite boxing are blocked or at least discouraged, and the programs are a shambles.
A kid would have to really want to be a fighter to divert from the huge promotion, money and investment in grassroots football here in Australia.

depending on the capital city, its AFL (Australian Rules Football), Rugby League (Sydney & Brisbane) Rugby Union, Soccer (everywhere) Cricket (everywhere), Tennis (everywhere), then Olympic sports like swimming, and every other sport in the book in a country that is sports mad and seeks it's identity and self-belief through sport, but boxing is an afterthought if it's mentioned at all.

Take into account a population of 25-30 million, and you have a country over saturated with sport.

On top of that certain states ban boxing for kids until they are 14, and that pretty much puts boxing dead last.

The irony is, MMA is booming, especially with the promotion of women's sport, so every pub is broadcasting MMA every week when historically we used to head to the pub or leagues club or RSL club to watch the boxing. No more.

Main Events (Foxtel subsidiary) has over-priced boxing PPV to the point where businesses are charged $2-3000 dollars to screen a fight where maybe ten-20 people turn up.

UFC is a lot smarter by being a lot cheaper hence a lot more popular.

Boxing lies dead for a time here until a Kostya Tszyu, Mundine, Katsidis, Fenech, come along with genuine talent and capture the headlines and pride of Australians.

The last big draw was Mundine, and that was because most people hated him and what came out of his mouth, as well as the under-current of racism that runs through white Australia still.