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Pacquiao's Aussie trainer dismisses Horn

Jeff Horn (right) is looking to pull off a massive upset. (Image: Supplied)
29th June, 2017
2

Manny Pacquiao’s Australian conditioning coach believes Jeff Horn will be consumed by nerves the moment he walks out in front of 50,000 people at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.

Former heavyweight boxer Justin Fortune reckons the unbeaten 29-year-old Horn is out of his depth and will be brutally exposed by the Filipino legend as he defends his WBO welterweight title.

In a sobering assessment of the ‘Battle of Brisbane’, Fortune said he gave Horn zero chance of springing a major upset against Pacquiao.

“People say ‘well, Manny hasn’t knocked anyone out in years’ but these are AAA guys, with pro-level experience, current or former world champions,” Fortune told AAP.

“They don’t want to get knocked out, for one, and they know how to survive and how to fight.

“This guy (Horn) has nowhere near the experience at all.

“This f***** (Horn) hasn’t walked out in front of 50,000 people, ever.

“Nerves take a lot out of you when you fight. It’s actually terrible, there’s nothing you can do about it, happens to all of us.

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“Nerves will sap the living s*** out of you.

“Manny’s done it, he’s used to it, it’s no big deal. Jeff’s not.

“I don’t think they’ve realised that.”

Fortune, who owns a gym in Hollywood and has been working with Pacquiao and Freddie Roach since 2002, also warned Horn that he had made a major error by not travelling to the United States to prepare.

“That’s my big thing with Jeff. Had you gone to the US for six weeks and prepared properly in a training camp, I’d give you a hell of a shot,” Fortune said.

“But he’s staying in Queensland and sparring with some Filipino (Czar Amonsot).

“Hopefully we can pull some more Aussie boxers out there to come to America and learn their trade, like I did, in the best place in the world.

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“That’s how you’ve got to succeed.”

Fortune said he had no reservations helping Pacquiao plot the downfall of a fellow Australian.

“This event is huge for Australian boxing. It’s on ESPN, millions of people will see it,” he said.

“But I don’t know Jeff Horn from a bar of soap. He’s an opponent.

“We’re in the hurt business. You’ve got to go out there and hurt them.

“Horn’s got no way out. He’s got to come out there and fight, and he will.

“There’s no dog in Horn.”

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