By Keith Idec
Jeff Horn’s team has begun its public campaign for referee Robert Byrd to allow Horn to fight the way the defending champion has grown accustomed against Terence Crawford.
Horn and his handlers consider their fighter’s physical style an important component to having a shot at upsetting Crawford in their 12-round fight Saturday night for Horn’s WBO welterweight title. The Australian champion’s rough tactics were a critical factor in him scoring a controversial upset of Manny Pacquiao last summer.
Glenn Rushton, Horn’s trainer, wants to make sure his unbeaten boxer’s reputation doesn’t hinder him once Horn enters the ring for what will already be a very challenging fight against Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+). First and foremost, Rushton will try to convince Byrd that Horn doesn’t lead with his head, according to what Rushton told Horn’s hometown Brisbane Times for a story published Sunday.
“I will certainly talk to the referee beforehand,” Rushton said, “and just say, ‘By the way, Jeff doesn’t lead with his head ... he leads with his legs and the head just happens to be attached to his body, so it naturally comes with you.’ Jeff never tries to head-butt. He’s a great competitor and he always sticks to the rules of boxing, and that’s what he will be doing again on the night.”
In Horn’s fight against Pacquiao, accidental clashes of heads caused cuts around Pacquiao’s hairline in the sixth round and over Pacquiao’s left eye during the seventh round. Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs), who lost a unanimous decision (117-111, 115-113, 115-113), acknowledged afterward that the clashes of heads affected him.
Rushton insists, however, that Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) is in no way a dirty fighter.
“There will be no dirty tactics from us,” Rushton said. “It’ll be a hard fight, an aggressive fight. Yes, when you’re in close your heads are naturally close, but there’s no intentional fouls and there will be none committed by Jeff. I will be asking the referee, Robert Byrd, just let the fight flow, please, and let’s not have unnecessary stoppages just because they’re in close.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.