Proof Crawford will struggle with Jeff Horn’s power

As he pored over hours and hours of Terence Crawford decimating his opposition, Glenn Rushton saw something. A weakness. A chink in the undefeated armour. A shot that Rushton believes gives Jeff Horn a bigger shot than many have predicted.

The moment in question came in the ninth round of Crawford’s 2014 fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa for the WBO lightweight title.

Crawford stopped Gamboa in the very same round but before the end arrived with a flurry of punches, the American was rocked himself.

That moment has fuelled Rushton’s belief that Crawford will struggle to handle Jeff Horn’s power when they meet for the WBO welterweight world title in Las Vegas on June 9.

Asked whether Crawford’s chin had been tested, Rushton replied: “I don’t think so. I think when he got hit by Gamboa and wobbled by a super featherweight — wait until you get hit by Jeff Horn.

“You won’t just wobble, you will fall over. I saw something in a lot of different (Crawford) fights. He is a brilliant boxer, we take nothing away from his skills.

“He is in the peak of his career, it is in his own backyard. I just want to go into the fight and say no excuses, no excuses Terence, whoever wins, wins, right, got it.

“Make sure you are clear on that. I said the same thing going into the Manny Pacquiao fight and afterwards all the excuses came out.

“All these excuses. When I stood in the ring with Manny Pacquiao after the fight I looked in the eyes of a warrior.

“A week later, I heard the rantings of a politician. All the advisers said, ‘You can’t admit you got beaten, we have to have excuses, we have to have reasons’. I just hope we don’t have the same against Terence Crawford.”

Horn will head into his second title defence as a massive underdog, the odds a reflection of the class of his opponent rather than the Australian’s fighting ability.

Crawford has won all 32 of his fights, unifying the junior welterweight division and establishing himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

Horn’s record is nowhere near as lengthy but Rushton would argue that Crawford’s has been padded out with fights against outclassed opponents. Regardless, Horn has already upset one legend by taking Pacquiao’s title.

“The way I look at it is yes, he won the title as a lightweight, has unified the division as a light welterweight, but he hasn’t fought as a welterweight,” Rushton said.
“I don’t believe he has done enough yet to be a legend like Manny Pacquiao. Who Manny Pacquiao fought, beat and KO’d, I believe that he was experience-wise higher than Crawford.

“Skills and speed, Crawford is deadly fast. He has a razor-like jab and yes, he is incredibly quick. But this is going to come down to a battle of spirits. I don’t know yet if he has been in the wars enough. He hasn’t had a real war yet. He hasn’t been in a war. This time he will be and that is where I think he could be found wanting.”

While Horn will have a distinct edge in size given he is a natural welterweight, Crawford’s greatest strength will be his speed.

The 30-year-old is entering the prime of his career and will arrive at MGM Grand Casino expected to make short work of the Australian champion tomorrow week.

Horn has spent much of the lead-up sparring against lightning-quick opponents, sharpening his eyes and skills in preparation for Crawford.

He has worked out with Australian Cameron Hammond and American welterweight contender Ray Robinson, asking them to mimic what he will face in the ring next weekend.

A win will open up the lucrative American market, bringing with it the promise of bigger fights and greater riches. Horn has his work cut out but there is a pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow should he upset the odds and topple Crawford.

“Fast legs will beat fast hands any day,” Rushton said.

“I have put Jeff against the fastest boxers we have got in Australia and he has shown he now has the strategy to combat that speed.

“The speed has never bothered us too much. We have fought fast guys — Ali Funeka was fast and he was also tall — he had a long reach and was fast. Ahmed El Mousaoui, was incredibly fast.

“We just adjusted the gap and we sorted that out pretty quickly. So we can negate the speed. Jeff is fast too. People don’t realise how quick and deceptive he is.

“We’re not worried about the speed.”