Jeff Horn v Tim Tszyu megafight: Jo Horn won’t be ringside to watch her husband in Townsville
She hasn’t missed one of her husband’s fights from ringside for over seven years but Jo Horn will be staying home and watching the all-Aussie mega-fight in Townsville next week nervously on television.
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For the past seven years, Jo Horn has been ringside, riding every punch with her champion boxing husband Jeff.
She was there when ‘The Hornet’ stung Manny Pacquiao to become a world champion at Suncorp Stadium in 2017.
She was there when Horn was bludgeoned by Michael Zerafa in Bendigo, and there again when Horn exacted revenge in their epic return bout in Brisbane last December.
Watch Horn vs Tszyu in an all-Aussie Super Fight, Live on Main Event, Wednesday 26 August, 7pm AEST. ORDER NOW >
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But on the eve of Horn’s showdown with Tim Tszyu next Wednesday night, Jo has revealed she will not travel to Townsville, with the mother of two bracing for the nerve-wracking experience of watching the fight on television.
Jo has been at the coalface for Horn’s last 16 professional fights and has not missed a live bout since he beat Ben Rabeh in Perth in December 2013.
“I don’t know how I will cope not being there to support Jeff,” said Jo, who will stay home to care for their two daughters Isabelle, two, and Charlotte, one.
“I would much rather be there, I can’t even remember what it was like last time when I didn’t go.
“The last time we took the kids was to Bendigo for the Zerafa fight and things didn’t go well that time, it was really unsettling with young children so we’ve decided to stay at home to let Jeff focus on the fight.
“I will be able to watch it on TV, but the thought of that is not good because you can only see what the cameras show you.
“When I’m live, my eyes are on him 100 per cent of the time. Sometimes the commentary freaks me out.”
Horn said it will be a strange experience not having his wife by his side as he attempts to inflict the first defeat of Tszyu’s 15-fight professional career.
“This is the first time in a long time that Jo isn’t going to be there,” he said.
“It’s probably going to be less stressful, I guess.
“I’ve had her (sitting ringside) a few times.
“I love having her and the kids around so it’s going to make it hard on me emotionally, not having them there, but to do the business and get the job done, it’s going to be a lot less stress without them being there.
“It’s going to be very weird not having them there in the crowd but there’s so many people in the crowd that I don’t normally even see Jo until after.
“In the ring, it’s not going to affect me. I’m going to be in the zone to fight.”
Jo will have family and friends over to her place to help calm her nerves throughout the fight.
“I don’t know how I get through fights. I just count down the minutes,” she said.
“Sometimes I feel frozen and my body is tense and I pray for the fight to end.
“My biggest fear is that one punch can go really bad. The whole time I just want Jeff to not have that bad punch.
“I just care about his health most of all and once that’s OK, I think I hope he has won.”