Jeff Horn who?

A former PE teacher, Jeff Horn took up boxing to defend himself from school bullies.

There are many tiers in boxing and it’s difficult to put the Australian fighter Jeff Horn in the most appropriate spot yet.

Without a doubt, Horn is a Class A boxer, but even at that level there are ladders that need to be climbed. Many a ring pundit would say that the unbeaten 28-year-old is still jostling for a prime place in the lower rungs with the other upstart world-ranked contenders.

The truly elite ones like Manny Pacquiao are huddled at the top, waiting in ambush for daring challengers. Now, it’s Horn’s turn to try to sneak in after he was handpicked by promoter Bob Arum to take the big leap for international acclaim.

A ring icon back home in Brisbane but hardly known in the international arena, Horn will try to snatch the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown from Pacquiao on April 23. The venue remains open to the highest bidder, although there’s a strong chance Pacquiao-Horn will be staged at the 52,500-seat Suncorp Stadium in the hometown of the former high school physical education teacher.

There, adoring fans can give Horn all the support and goading he would need to pull off a major shocker and hurt Pacquiao’s legacy as a boxer.

After all, Horn’s trainer, Glenn Rushton, and manager, Dean Lonergan of Duco Events, genuinely believe that their man is capable of cutting short what’s envisioned to be Pacquiao’s four-nation farewell tour.

Basking in the limelight at last, Horn (16 wins, one draw, 11 knockouts) is convinced that he has the power, strength and skills to match up with Pacquiao. A busy fighter like the Filipino superstar, Horn sees his foe as “more vulnerable” now.

“He’s probably past his best days, that’s for sure,” Horn tells ringtv.com. “He hasn’t stopped anyone at welterweight for a while now. I’m a little bigger than him. I think I’d outmuscle him.”

Horn, whose biggest claim to fame was making the quarterfinals of the 2012 London Olympics as a light welterweight, enjoys a three-inch height advantage at 5-foot-9 but has a reach just an inch longer than the Fighting Senator’s. “I think I’ve got the speed, I’ve got a similar style to his, so I’m a good mover,” he says. “It’s going to be harder for him to lay those shots on me because he’s fought a few guys that don’t move as well.”

According to Horn, he took up boxing to defend himself from bullies who had beaten him up twice in school, he wouldn’t have accepted the Pacquiao fight offer if he didn’t believe in his chances of victory.

“I definitely don’t want to say I’m going to stop Manny Pacquiao,” boxingnewsonline.net. quotes the Australian as saying. “But, yes, I do think I’ll win. I’m very confident of that.”

Pacquiao fans may dismiss this as braggadocio, coming as it were from someone who took up the sport at the late age of 17, notched 84 amateur fights, and turned pro just four years ago.

Horn, who bowed out of the London Olympics to eventual silver medalist Denys Berinchyk of Ukraine, may have been made to believe that way by Rushton, his first and only boxing coach.

Rushton promised to make Horn a national champion and Horn reigned for three years from 2009. The millionaire investment manager promised Horn an Olympic stint and got it done. Only the promise of making Horn a world champion remains unfulfilled.

When Lonergan forged a deal for the title duel with Pacquiao, who has 50 more fights than Horn, Rushton did not hesitate despite the huge odds.

“I respect Pacquiao for everything he’s achieved in the sport,” Rushton tells smh.com.au. “But when you start to weigh it up, you will see what we have in Jeff. You can’t see the future, but I believe we’re looking at a future legend.”

Horn surged ahead of the rest of possible Pacquiao foes following three straight stoppage wins over Randall Bailey, Rico Mueller and Ali Funeka, the last one coming in the sixth round in Auckland, New Zealand, last Dec. 10. And like Brandon Rios, Chris Algieri, and Jessie Vargas before him, Horn now believes he has tools to defeat the Philippines’ future Hall of Famer.

Rios, Algieri and Vargas started the fight unconvinced about Pacquiao’s hand speed, nimble footwork and power. They all left the ring thinking that the only fighter to win world titles in eight divisions may indeed be a freak of nature.

Rushton says Horn stings like a hornet, possesses the heart of Rocky Balboa and attacks like The Terminator. Whether the fictional combination will work in actual battle against Pacquiao remains to be seen, though.