I'd argue that he always was. C upped to a B- at best with illegal tactics, ref, bought off judges all in his favor.
Horn will jump on the domestic carousel and become stuck in an infinite loop of briefly retiring and returning to have fights with Mundine, Green, Geale and Soliman.
As much as I love to see Kiwi fighters do well especially a boy from Christchurch like Bowyn, sadly even this shot version of Horn has way too much for Morgan. Morgan's also way too small to be fighting at 154.
Yeah, look I've changed my thinking on this. It doesn't make sense to match Horndog with a Kiwi given the love New Zealand fans appear to have for him. Understandable I guess, given all the key development fights Horndog was provided with over there. It's been a one-off seeing an Australian fighter developed in New Zealand. It's part of the reason very few Australian fans knew who he was when he got the title shot against Manny. I was only aware of Horndog through his appearances on Joseph Parker undercards. I'm not convinced Horndog is shot. If they bring him back right, he can still have a final fling @ Junior Middle. I reckon he should have three fights next year - Jack Brubaker, Joel Camilleri & Michael Zerafa. If he's good enough to win them all, he's good enough to fight for a world title in the following year. Then he can retire.
Yeah look, good on Horn if he can come back and make another fling at the title, but personally, I think he's done there. As you said though, he does have something to offer at the domestic scene if he wants to continue fighting. Personally, I think he should retire though as he has nothing left to prove. On Morgan, he is ranked in the top 15 with the IBF at 147, so he would be a target for fighters out there chasing his ranking.
Him and wilder suffered due to improper coaching. Both stayed loyal to they're corner but that's what in fact hindered them. Ever hear the name of Arturo Gatti (greatly missed) ? As soon as he connected with buddy mcgirt people were praising him in the pound for pound sense.