Victory for Jeff Horn gives him control of his boxing destiny
Jeff Horn knows a win over Terence Crawford in Las Vegas would set his family up for life, with the WBO champion flagging the possibility of walking away after just a handful of further fights on the big stage.
The 30-year-old will already bank a purse of around $2.5m for his work in the ring at the MGM Grand on Saturday night but further riches would await if he stunned heavy favourite Crawford in the same way he did Manny Pacquio.
Horn has flagged the $5m mark as the magic bullet financially but he could make that in one outing if he undoes Crawford, the 32-0 Nebraskan pegged as the next big thing in American boxing.
The former teacher is a smart operator and doesn't want to be slugging away in his 40s like so many in the fight game. With a new baby daughter to think about, Horn wants to make sure he leaves the ring with his faculties and finances in good health.
When asked if he would consider hanging the gloves up as soon as the end of the year, Horn said he wouldn't, before walking it back and considering the prospect should all go to plan in Las Vegas.
“No, not yet," Horn said. "It’s a potential, it all depends how the body is coping and how I feel in myself.
“I don’t want to get to the stage where I do start noticing things deteriorating and think I should’ve given it up after the last fight... ‘I’ve been hit here and now I’ve lost something I could’ve had for the rest of my life’.
“I definitely don’t want to stick in it for very long, so enjoy it while I’m here."
Horn has been fighting for a decade already and has had some good advice about not sticking around too long in a sport that can dish out brutal punishment later in life to its participants.
What Horn really wants to do is put his destiny in his own hands. The easiest path to that sort of freedom is to beat Crawford, who has been installed as an unbackable favourite to take Horn's WBO belt.
“Someone told me not long ago, ‘You really don’t want to be doing this for too long’, and I don’t want to be doing it for too long, I’ve already been doing it for 10 years.
“They told me you need $5 million to retire for basically life. After this fight, I’ll possibly be getting that type of money in my next fight so if I can win this one, it won’t be far off before I can say ‘I can hang them up if I want to’.
“I don’t want to be one of the silly ones that hangs around until they’re 40 years old and fighting."
That's not to say Horn, who has been calm and relaxed all week, hasn't been enthused by the buzz of a build-up in one of boxing's great destinations. He wouldn't miss the punishing camps but can see why it would be so hard to walk away from the glitz and glamour.
“Being in Vegas, being in this fight hype type of environment where it’s all building up to this extreme moment where you’re about to fight someone in a ring where you can’t run away, it’s that moment your body loves the adrenaline rush.
“That’s what past fighters miss, I haven’t experienced that yet because I haven’t stopped, but maybe in the future if I do stop I might get that itch again and want to come back."