By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn is in Las Vegas ahead of his June 9 clash with WBO mandatory contender Terrence Crawford.

“Early in my career my trainer Glenn Rushton sat me down and told me that I was no longer a fighter but an entertainer,” Horn explained to Grantlee Kieza of the Courier Mail. “I was now in the business of creating excitement and Glenn said he wanted me to be an all-action hero. That’s the fighting style I’ve adopted and the one that Crawford will face next week. The showman side comes from my high workrate and good boxing. I plan to upset Crawford’s style, upset his rhythm and not let him show those crafty skills he’s known for.

“I’ll be applying a lot of pressure, changing angles constantly and firing power shots from both hands while changing stance between orthodox and southpaw.

“Glenn told me that as professional boxer it was my choice whether I became a rich and famous one or a poor, anonymous battler. He told me that ‘some world champions fight for $100,000, and some for $100 million. Which one did I want to be?’ If you want to make it big and earn the big purses in boxing you have to entertain the crowd and I think this will be a very entertaining fight. We’re both unbeaten, we’re both world champions, we can both hit and we both have awkward styles.”

Horn said Crawford’s biggest weapons were his stunning punch accuracy and his split-second timing.

“I’ve really got to look out for the surprise uppercuts he throws. He’s very good at timing his shots. I have to feint a lot to make him uncertain of when I’m coming in and hit him very hard when I do.”