Jeff Horn vs Terence Crawford: The hype-free guide with everything you need to know
You've probably heard that Brisbane's Jeff Horn is fighting again on the weekend, defending his title belt against America's Terence Crawford.
You might even be excited for it.
But in boxing it can be hard to sort the hype from the reality, so here's a simple one-stop guide featuring everything you need to know with none of the spin.
Who is Terence Crawford?
Terence "Bud" Crawford's record stands at 32 wins and zero losses. He is one the best boxers in the world, though he's probably not the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the sport today, as Horn's backers keep claiming in order to build up the fight (right now, most fans think the world's best boxer is Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko).
That's splitting hairs though — Crawford is really, really good. Hailing from an underprivileged neighbourhood in Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford started boxing at age seven and had an extensive amateur career.
Not long after turning pro in 2008 he was shot in the head in a dispute over a back-alley dice game, but today he is a devoted family man (who loves fishing, cruising and quad bikes, judging by his Instagram).
External Link: Crawford is now a devoted family man
Over the past four years, Crawford has dominated two weight divisions — lightweight (61.2 kilos) and junior welterweight (63.5 kilos) — with superb boxing skills and a mean streak a mile wide.
Now, he's moving up to welterweight to challenge Horn and most boxing experts see him as an overwhelming favourite.
That's because he's undefeated and seems to be able to do everything.
Crawford can jab, he can move, he can rumble, he can adjust in the middle of a fight and he has an enormous vocabulary of punches.
Who is Jeff Horn?
Our Jeff!
If you've been living under a rock for the last year or so, Jeff Horn is Brisbane's answer to Rocky Balboa — a mild-mannered and virtually unknown contender who somehow managed to land a fight with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.
Even more improbably, he then managed to win it in front of 51,000 fans at Lang Park last July.
Horn was photographed a few days later, putting out his bins with his face still bruised. The photo says everything you need to know about the former schoolteacher: Horn is down to earth, quiet and often lets his trainer Glenn Rushton do the talking.
Horn, whose professional record is 18 wins and one draw, has fought only once since beating Pacquiao, a technical knockout win over unheralded Englishman Gary Corcoran in December last year. He didn't look fantastic in that fight and was said to have had issues making the welterweight limit of 66.7 kg, though it could simply be that Corcoran was a tougher customer than expected.
"The Hornet" isn't the kind of boxer who makes fight fans wax lyrical. He doesn't do any one thing exceptionally well, and he's not a knockout artist. Instead, he brings physicality, hard-nosed determination and an awkward, pressuring style that forces his opponents out of their comfort zone.
Why are they fighting now?
Like many things in the boxing industry, it's complicated.
A lucrative rematch with Pacquiao would've made sense for Horn, but Pacquiao was not available — the Filipino veteran is a sitting senator and had scheduling conflicts.
Horn remains in possession of a world title belt. He is co-promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank, one of the world's most successful boxing outfits, in a deal that will soon expire. Crawford is also promoted by Top Rank, so the fight offers Arum and Top Rank a chance to keep the belt and the money in house.
For Horn, the fight is a massive gamble with potentially huge returns — beating Crawford would make him one of the best Australian boxers ever and set up more huge pay days down the line. For Crawford, it's a way to pick up a belt in a new weight division against what many see as an "easy" opponent.
What are my key talking points for the pub?
The weight limit
One of the key factors on Sunday will be how both fighters deal with making the welterweight limit.
In Crawford's case, the question is whether he will carry the attributes he showed at junior welterweight into the next division up.
External Link: Crawford with pup
There is a limit to how much weight a boxer can put on while retaining their natural speed, power and punch resistance.
For Horn, the issue will be making weight. He's oversized for the division, and had trouble cutting down for his last bout. If he drains himself to make 66.7kg and turns up in the ring as a shell of himself, then his natural size advantage will be no advantage at all. If he's a fit, healthy and physically imposing 66.7kg he might just be able to make Crawford uncomfortable.
The gloves
Since May, dozens of articles have been published in the Australian media about the lightly-padded Everlast MX gloves Crawford will use in the fight, most quoting Horn's trainer Glenn Rushton's implication that it's borderline cheating.
But the truth is the gloves are a non-issue and everyone involved knows it. The fight just needed some publicity. The gloves, which are padded with horsehair rather than foam, are some of the most popular in the sport, and are completely legal. Horn is also welcome to choose any commission-approved gloves he likes.
The postponement
The fight was originally scheduled for April 14, but was postponed when Crawford hurt his hand sparring. Horn's camp questioned the truth of the injury at the time — it was certainly convenient for Top Rank, who were having trouble scheduling the fight for television.
Two months on, the longer training window could mean one or both boxers enter the ring in the best shape of their life, or that they come in overtrained, having peaked in the gym.
What time will the main event start and how can I watch?
The fight will be a pay-per-view bout, meaning you'll have to shell out 50 bucks on pay TV or head to a local pub to watch it.
The supporting bouts start at 10am AEST Sunday, but the main event won't go on until around 2pm.
Who's going to win?
The smart money is on Crawford, a fighter who radiates intelligence and menace. It's not too difficult to image him picking apart Horn like a small boy picking the wings off a fly.
On the other hand, Horn is not one to be intimidated, or to take no for an answer. He has an excellent chin and is going to be the much bigger man in the ring, facing an opponent untested at a new weight. Everyone said Pacquiao would win last July and we saw how that turned out.
Yet Crawford is a far more difficult assignment than the aged Manny Pacquiao who Horn beat in Brisbane.
Crawford is a special talent who at age 30 is in his athletic prime. Still, it's unlikely he'll blow Horn out of the ring, as some predict.
The Brisbane boy is too big, too tough and too determined. He'll get in Crawford's face and try to rough him up, but that probably won't be enough. Either the referee or Horn's corner will likely stop the fight after the middle rounds as Crawford becomes increasingly dominant.
Crawford will know he's been in a fight when he wakes up the next day though and Horn might just earn some new American fans.
Alex McClintock is a freelance writer.
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