Blood, sweat and fears: Jeff Horn fights for his family’s future

Every time Jeff Horn steps into the ring his wife Joanna’s heart skips a beat.

Jeff Horn at home with wife Joanna, daughters Isabelle and Charlotte and the family dog Lexi. Picture: Claudia Baxter

“How would you like it if you had to sit there and watch me get punched like that?”

That is the question Joanna Horn asked her champion boxer husband Jeff as the sport spent the past week mourning the death of Victorian fighter Dwight Ritchie.

The 27-year-old collapsed last weekend during a sparring session with Michael Zerafa — the man Horn will face in a rematch in Brisbane on December 18.

“When Jeffrey and I saw (what happened to Ritchie), I was in ­absolute shock,” Joanna told The Weekend Australian.

“I couldn’t even think. I turned to Jeffrey and asked ‘Are you sure you really want to do this?’ ”

The last time the two fighters met, it was an ugly affair, for Horn, with the former WBO welterweight champion faltering under a barrage of blows before the fight was stopped in the ninth round.

Joanna, who never misses a fight, said she reeled with every strike: “I’m always ringside and it hurts me every time I see him get hit, especially when you hear that big pounding sound.

“When I see him looking dazed up there, it’s just soul-destroying, being on the other side of the ropes, not knowing exactly how he’s feeling or if he’s all right, because it’s not just me now, there’s our daughters, Isabelle and Charlotte, who need him too.

“I’ve been threatening to take up boxing so he will know what I’m going through all the time and how much it hurts to see someone you love go through that.”

The Brisbane boxer’s eventual retirement from fighting has always been a hot topic in the Horn household but has grown in intensity in the past year following the births of their daughters Isabelle, 2, and five-month-old Charlotte — and Ritchie’s death a week ago.

“He’s always promised he won’t box any older than 35 and he’s 32 in February so it’s getting closer and closer,” Joanna said.

“I’ve told him I’ll definitely be holding him to that.”

For Horn, the desire to keep swinging is as much about money as it is about ego.

The former part-time teacher, who took up boxing as a teen to defend himself against schoolyard bullies, has collected more than $6m in prizemoney since winning his world title against Manny ­Pacquiao in July 2017.

But boxing, like any elite sport, is a business and his camp points out that much of the money has been devoured by management and promoters fees, his support team and tax. Horn knows he has only a limited window in which to take advantage of his prowess.

While they have upgraded their home since he rose to prominence, the Horn family still lives in the relatively modest suburb of Sunnybank in Brisbane’s south and, for the most part, maintains a humble lifestyle.

“We haven’t changed that much. Jeffrey still gets his hair cut by his aunty in her kitchen or in the backyard,” Joanne said.

There is no denying the responsibilities and joys of fatherhood weigh heavily on Horn’s mind.

“It might have to change this bit of preparation (leading up to the fight against Zerafa) but I’ve always said to Glenn (Rushton), my trainer, that I need to be home at 6pm because that’s when the kids go to sleep and I need to be home for that,” he said.

“I look forward so much to the time of the day when I get home and get to be with them, I don’t even worry about getting punched in the face, or punching people in the face. Being with all three of my girls is much better than boxing.”