BRISBANE, Australia – It seems Jeff Horn has an immediate battle to overcome before taking on Manny Pacquiao three days from now.
The former school teacher vying for a first ever world title this Sunday admitted still being six pounds over the limit for his welterweight showdown with the reigning champion from the Philippines.
Horn didn’t hold back when asked about his physical condition on Thursday when he – along with the undercard fighters seeing action in the ‘Battle of Brisbane – appeared before hundreds of people at the city’s Central Business District here to do a short public training session.
The challenger (16-0-1, 11 KOs) said he still weighs 70 kilos (154 lbs) with just two days left before the official weigh-in for the fight is held at the Suncorp Stadium.
“All I’m thinking about right now is making weight. That’s the next challenge ahead of me,” he told the crowd while standing at the center of a specially constructed ring. “After that, on Sunday morning, that’s when the focus moves to the fight.”
But the Australian, who represented his country in the 2012 London Olympics, appeared perturb by the weight issue. He even said his pre-fight condition is much better than his last fight against Ali Funeka.
“I’m doing a lot better this time,” said the 29-year-old boyish looking boxer.
Horn was still nine pounds over the welterweight limit (147) when he had his media workout for the last time on Monday.
To shed off the unwanted pounds, Horn will be wearing a special plastic sweat suit when he trains on Friday in the hope of cutting down a few kilos off his weight.
“What I’m gonna do is train on Friday night and I’ll be wearing a plastic suit to cut maybe a kilo in that session,” he said.
“And then the next morning, I’m going to wake up just before the weigh-in and cut off the next couple of kilos.”
But Horn’s trainer and manager Glenn Rushton referred to the dilemma as something ‘normal for Jeff.”
“That sounds easy,” the boxer added.
Horn didn't appear sluggish during the session as he lightly bounced around the ring in the 20-minute workout.
He did two rounds in the mitts with Rushton, tried some skipping ropes, and shadowboxed to sweat out despite the cool afternoon weather.
Horn then obliged for some foto ops and autograph signing with some of the fans waiting for him, before finally calling it a day.
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