Former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn fears that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic may cut back the final stage of his career, but he has no doubt Australian boxing's future on the world stage is bright.
Horn was scheduled to fight unbeaten, rising junior middleweight star Tim Tsyzu in Townsville on April 22, but the contest was postponed when the rate of COVID-19 infections began to escalate in the country
The promoters hope to reschedule the fight for later in the year, though neither boxer is overly interested in the idea of fighting each other behind closed doors in order to set an earlier date.
Aged 32 to Tszyu's 25, Horn is understandably keen to resume fighting as soon as possible.
"I always said I would kind of be finishing up at around the age of 35," Horn said.
"So if this kind of keeps going on and on and I'm not able to fight, this is going to reduce the amount of fights I'm going to be having before I retire."
Horn believes the local scene is in good hands, after watching the emergence of several other world-level Australian fighters, like the Moloney twins, Andrew and Jason, spearheading a new wave.
Super lightweight Liam Paro, cruiserweight Jai Opetaia, super bantamweight Brock Jarvis and super featherweight Liam Wilson are also rising in their respective divisions.
"They are all super-talented guys definitely looking like they've got the talent to become world champions one day," Horn said.
"They have just got to take a little bit of caution with what fights they take. But I truly believe the guys that we've got coming through now in the next wave are very promising for Australian boxing and I think we have some guys that can definitely match it with the best in the world."
While Horn has his fans, he also has a lot of critics - which he uses as motivation in his career.
"I actually don't mind people being like that towards me," Horn said.
"Obviously I've got people that support me as well, a lot that do. But those few people here and there, the handful of people that do say bad things about me and that I'm useless, they kind of motivate me as well to go 'OK, I'll prove you wrong and I will win this one as well.'"