Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs), who is unbeaten in his pro career is confident his fitness coach Dundee Kim will mold him in less than two months in such a way that Pacquiao won’t be able to stand his ‘incredible’ punching power.
There is little doubt Horn can hit Pacquiao hard and if he can do what Juan Manuel Marquez did to the Filipino star at the MGM Grand in 2012, Horn can indeed seize the moment on July 2.
But Horn should know that it took Marquez and his trainer Nacho Berestain 13 years and four grueling fights to discover how Marquez can find his target to launch his own incredible power punch on the constantly moving eight-division world champ.
Watch Pacquiao-Marquez 1V here.
Pacquiao is hard to catch with a power punch because his head is constantly moving. It will take Horn to find out how he can catch Pacquiao the way Marquez did back in 2012. With less than two months to fight night, it is doubtful if Horn and his trainers can formulate a foolproof plan to catch Pacquiao with a clean power punch.
Even if Horn can muster how he can land on specific target, it has to be a real super power punch similar to the one thrown by Marquez otherwise it won’t bother Pacquiao at all because of his durable chin.
Dundee, who migrated from Korea 20 years ago, has worked with Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton to keep Horn in top shape. While Kim is not known in the boxing community, he is reportedly doing good at what he does as a fitness guru.
“Dundee has been a key figure in my pro career,” Horn said. “Glenn Rushton is my boxing coach and manager and Dundee helps Glenn with all my strength and conditioning work.”
“He does a lot of punching work with me on what we call noodles (foam rollers) which are great because they don’t hurt my hands. At the moment we’re working on hand speed and short punches which will be crucial against Pacquiao. We do a lot of weight training, too, and I feel really strong,” he added.
Even with the best trainer and conditioning coach by his side, Horn won’t be able to duplicate what Marquez did to Pacquiao in 2012.
Horn can improve on what Marquez did or he can find a more creative way to capitalize on what his trainer would suggest to catch Pacquiao’s mobile head or he can shift his power and go for a wild body shot.
Still, Pacquiao has learned over the years to protect his body from a deadly liver shot which could instantly disable a fighter in a matter of seconds.
Horn is a good boxer otherwise he won’t remain unbeaten in his pro career but rushing things up to fast track his career could be dangerous because his opponent is aware of his plan even if he isn’t vocal about it.
