Horn has ‘hands like steel,’ says trainer Rushton

Jeff Horn. INQUIRER PHOTO/ROY LUARCA

BRISBANE, Australia—If trainer Glenn Rushton’s grand description of  Jeff Horn turns out to be true, then Manny Pacquiao is in for a brutal tussle on July 2.

A punishing 10-week training camp, according to Rushton, has turned Horn into a fighting machine. Somebody with “hands like steel, body like granite,” and with “the strength of an ox.”

Rushton, a self-made millionaire and mixed martial arts expert, also said during Horn’s media workout at the gym inside his mansion, that he hasn’t seen anybody really hurt Horn in the ring.

Not even during his amateur days where Horn represented Australia in both the World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.

And not in the pro ranks, where Horn holds a 16-0-1 record with 11 knockouts.

In addition, Rushton swears that Horn has the will and the heart to give trouble to anybody, including Pacquiao.

Rushton said he’s hoping that Pacquiao will bring his A-game into the “Battle of Brisbane” at the 52,500-seat Suncorp Stadium because Horn will definitely be at his best form ever.

After studying hundreds of tapes of Pacquiao’s previous fights, especially against the likes of Ricky Hatton, Oscar dela Hoya and Juan Manuel Marquez, Rushton has meticulously crafted a secret 10-point plan against Pacquiao.

Rushton said if Horn will be able to follow the plan to the letter, and be on his toes every second of the 12-round bout, the former school teacher will be able to hurdle Pacquiao and shock the world.

Rushton liked Pacquiao-Horn to a collision between an unstoppable force (Pacquiao) and an immovable object (Horn).

And with Horn in terrific shape, Horn promises a much better fight than Pacquiao versus Jessie Vargas, Pacquiao against Timothy Bradley and Pacquiao against Juan Manuel Marquez.

With both Pacquiao and Horn wielding a heavy hand, said there’s a good chance of a stoppage late in the fight.