Chaos theory key to Horn dethroning Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao is one of boxing’s alltime greats. But in softly spoken teacher Jeff Horn, Pacquiao won’t know what hit him.

Jeff Horn ponders the fight against legendary Manny Pacquiao. Picture: Ric Frearson.

By the boxing ring ropes in the Brisbane gym he calls The House of Dreams, journeyman trainer Glenn Rushton whispered the secret to how “Fighting Schoolteacher” Jeff Horn would beat the unbeatable Manny Pacquiao in the greatest fight in Australian boxing history.

“Chaos theory,” he said. “You never know when he’s comin’ in, what he’s comin’ in with, how many punches he’s gonna throw, where he’ll throw them, the directions they’ll come from, where he’s gonna exit. It’s just a guess, so it becomes like a chaos theory, there is a pattern there but no one can really discern it.”

Chaos theory. The branch of mathematics that deals with systems whose behaviour is sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to great consequences.

Brisbane kid gets bullied at school. Kid follows his cousin into Rushton’s south Brisbane gym to learn self-defence. Kid throws a jab like a bullet train. Trainer spots kid. Trainer takes kid to Olympic Games. Trainer takes kid through 16 pro boxing wins. Kid lands fight with one of the greatest of all time.

As promoters clamber to cement the deal for the potential April blockbuster between 29-year-old part-time high school relief teacher Horn and the 38-year-old Filipino marvel named “Fighter of the Decade” for the 2000s, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, Rushton has his soft-speaking, power-punching charge holed up each day in the House of Dreams fin­essing the chaos theory method they’ve dubbed “Broken Rhythm Pressure Style”. “Broken rhythm pressure fighting is what got me my first wins and got me into state and ­national titles,” Horn said. “We work it from the base upwards.”

“It’s about adaptation,” Rushton said. “We have to morph and change. Fights aren’t won by the round, they’re won by the second.”

Just one catch: Manny Pacquiao is a master of adaptation.

“Pacquiao fights in a similar style,” said Rushton. “He never stops moving. His head’s moving, his legs are moving. He’s intense. He’s fast in. But Jeff is bigger, strong, younger.”

In The House of Dreams, Glenn Rushton is beginning to see how Jeff “The Hornet” Horn’s great dream is going to end.

“We’ll climb through those ropes and Jeff will lift his awareness and he’ll be ready for battle,” Rushton said. “He’ll execute the plan perfectly. At the end of the fight his hand will go up and we’ll have a new world champion.”

Read more about the fight of Jeff Horn’s life in T he Weekend Australian Magazine. For video, go to theaustralian.com.au/twam