Horn v Corcoran: rival trainer slams ‘risky’ weigh-in tactics

Is Jeff Horn’s camp endangering his health with his dramatic weight drop?

Jeff Horn rehydrates after the weigh-in at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Picture: AFP.

Jeff Horn stripped down to his underwear, stepped on the scales and snuck under the welterweight limit with a meagre 16 grams to spare.

Frank Greaves, the trainer of challenger Gary Corcoran, watched on intently and wasted no time stoking an already raging fire as he suggested Horn’s camp could be endangering his health with the sort of dramatic weight drop that had the champion reaching for an energy drink only moments after he stepped off the scales having dropped 3kg in half a day.

“He looked dry, he looked very dry in the face,” Greaves said. “Physically speaking, he looked OK from the neck down. But he looked very dry around the mouth and there was a lot of clapping of lips together. He has probably spent ‘x’ amount of time in the bath, training in sauna suits. Lots of fighters do it. I don’t do it with my fighters because, to be honest, there is a lot of life to live after boxing and I think it is dangerous.

“I am not saying they don’t care about him but I wouldn’t allow my fighter to do it because it is dangerous. I think it is risky. Win, lose or draw, I know after the fight I can lay my head on the pillow and know my job is done.

“Boxing is a dangerous sport but I want to be safe first and foremost. I wouldn’t do what they do. It is purely a safety thing.”

Jeff Horn (L) faces off with British opponent Gary Corcoran (R) during the pre-fight weigh-in at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Brisbane. Picture: AFP.

Horn’s trainer, Glenn Rushton, who fuelled the flames yesterday by taunting the Corcoran camp over their concerns regarding the champion’s use of his head, dismissed any suggestion Horn’s health had been put in jeopardy with the late loss of weight. He claimed Horn might be in better shape for this fight than he was when he upset Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao earlier this year.

“We’ll see who wins tomorrow night and we will see how it works,” Rushton said. “It works for us. The way we do it is the best way. We’re not overly dehydrating. We think we have it about perfect. He will be strong as an ox.

“I don’t know how many world champions he has in his camp, but I don’t take a lot of notice of that. If I thought there were concerns, if I saw in any of his fights that he was dying towards the end, I would revisit it.

“Personally, I think Jeff looked a little better today than he did against Pacquiao. My primary concern is Jeff’s health and I don’t believe in any way that we are jeopardising his health.”

The lead-up to the latest Battle of Brisbane has been an incendiary affair and it wasn’t about to change on fight eve. Only moments before Greaves raised concerns over Horn’s preparation, he was sitting in a rules meeting with referee Benjy Esteves Jr where he reiterated the issues he had with the champion’s use of his head.

Greaves had used a video to illustrate his point to the media on Monday but yesterday there was no need to drag out the laptop as he spoke directly to Esteves Jr.

“Both fighters I am telling the same thing — when you work inside, be very careful with your head,” Esteves Jr said.

“I just wait for it to present itself. Sometimes you worry about something and it doesn’t happen in the fight. When I get them in their locker room I will talk to them.

“I have studied their fights, their past fights, they records, what their tendencies are, who their cornermen are, everything. I am not going to worry about that until I get in the ring.”

Horn was in no mood for theatrics. While Rushton hammed it up for the cameras, the champion’s only concern was filling a stomach which has been starved in an attempt to make weight.

Only a week ago he was almost 6kg over the limit but by the time he stepped on the scales, any concerns over his weight had been erased.

The WBO champion has the world at his feet as he prepares for the first defence of his title. Big-money fights with Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao hinge on another victory.

A move to super welterweight and a potential fight with Canelo Alvarez is also on the line. A mad scramble to make weight has thus far been his greatest challenge but Horn won that battle yesterday.

“Very relived, it’s always good to get in nice and close to that weight but not over it,” Horn said.

“The weight came off a lot faster this time than it has before. I feel like it has come off really quickly and easily. At this point, the way I made the weight today, I feel like I could keep (at welterweight).

“I was heavy but the weight has stripped off. It is always a struggle but it felt like today, when I had to lose that last couple of kilos, it dropped faster than it normally does. I am definitely ready.”