I’VE BEEN SPOILT WITH MASSIVE FIGHTS

I never perform really well in a lead-up to a fight and I think hunger is a big part of the sport.

I think I probably didn’t have as much hunger for this fight with Michael as I did with other fights.

I’ve been on the highs of Australian boxing. The Pacquaio fight, going over to Las Vegas to fight Crawford there. I’ve been spoilt with those massive fights.

Then to go to Bendigo, even though there was a massive crowd there, compared to where I’d been before, felt like a drop down in occasion.

I felt like I was fighting to keep busy rather than fighting for something bigger, and that probably let me down in mindset. Mindset is a huge part of boxing success.

I fought alright but I didn’t fight to my game plan. It was probably the same as when I fought Crawford. I was too predictable and Michael was easily able to work that out.

I didn’t have the pressure like I did in America but I fell into that hole of coming forward and that was all I was going to do.

I obviously hadn’t done enough work in the timeframe I had to get ready. I had eight weeks, which I cut short a bit. I thought that was probably good enough to beat Michael but he proved what I proved against Pacquiao – that hunger will always win out if the skill level is similar.

MY OPTIONS

There have been a lot of questions as to what comes next. I see a few options. I could take a rematch against Michael, try to line up another fight, or walk away.

I’m still letting time play out and thinking about it more and more. The key for me is what do I want. Do I have the drive to keep doing it? The desire to do another hard training camp and keep fighting?

The training camps, no matter how hard you are you’ve got to take smacks to the head.

I’ve got to think about it and decide if I’m prepared to do the work that needs to be done to get ready for a big fight.

Can I keep pushing on and get those big wins? It depends on how hungry I am.

This is the first time I feel like I have had to make a decision like this. I’ve always said I planned on retiring no later than 35. That doesn’t mean I was definitely intent on waiting until I was 35, just that I wouldn’t fight past that.

The decision will be all mine. I can’t give my family the choice. They’re always going to sway towards the side of protecting me, and I think they would like me to quit because they don’t like seeing me get hit.

Jo was upset in the fight because I got hurt. I was knocked down and she was worried for me. I’d be upset if she wasn’t upset.

She’s always going to be overly protective of me and want things stopped earlier than they should be.

Jo has a big impact in my life in many different ways but I can’t involve her in this decision. I know what Jo’s like and she would say, ‘I’d be happy if you hung them up today.’ She would have said that after the Pacquiao fight.

It’s not that I don’t love and respect what Jo says, and I understand where she’s coming from, but it’s really on my shoulders what the decision will be – not on Glenn’s, my dad, my mum or any family member.

If I feel I could hang the gloves up now and that was enough, I could easily do that as well.

My daughters Isabelle and Charlotte have changed my perspective on life. That happens to a lot of people. Those two, along with Jo, are the most important to me and my main care.

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Introducing our daughter Charlotte Lucie Horn. She weighed in at 3.48kgs. Coming into the world healthy and screaming. #baby #babygirl #girls #outnumbered #family #familyislove #familyislife #boxing #sport #cute #cutegirls?

A post shared by Jeff Horn (@jeffhornboxer) on Jun 26, 2019 at 11:59pm PDT

I want to see them growing up and enjoying life. My health is what I need to be able to do that. That’s the main thing with boxing, you can’t be in it if you’re not prepared to put in the work.

Although there is a team effort behind you, it all comes down to you. How much you’re willing to put in determines what you get out of it. If you cut corners, you’ll be found out.

You want to keep fighting for pride and to go out on a loss would be difficult. You can see that with Anthony Mundine and the way I beat him and he’s coming back again because it’s so hard to go out like that. I don’t blame him for wanting to come back and try to do something better.

Do I have what it takes to put in more big efforts to get some more big wins?

That’s what I’ve got to discover.