An angry Jeff Horn has taken a swipe at Anthony Mundine for spouting a blatant lie about him, accusing the 43-year-old of being blind to reality.
Mundine has repeatedly said in the build up to the pair’s fight in Brisbane on Friday night Horn is the beneficiary of “white man privilege” who has had everything handed to him without having to earn it.
Read: Mundine slams Horn’s ‘white man privilege’
But Horn says The Man couldn’t be more wrong, wishing Mundine could see things from his perspective so he could understand the obstacles the Queenslander has had to overcome.
“It is (annoying) because it’s been such a hard journey to get to where I am and it hasn’t been easy,” Horn told reporters at the official weigh-in on Thursday.
“He talks about how easy I’ve got it and how easy I’ve had it in the past to get to where I am. It’s just like, ‘Please walk in my shoes and then you will see how hard it’s actually been.’
“That is frustrating to me.”
Ironically, it was a Mundine fan who awkwardly pointed out one of the most publicised difficulties Horn has endured — being bullied as a schoolkid. This week in a video diary for Players Voice he reflected on an incident where he was ordered onto his knees and slapped in the face by another student, and his story of bullied boy to world champion will forever define whatever legacy Horn leaves behind.
As Mundine stepped on stage at the weigh-in, one comedian practising material for his next gig yelled out: “Show him what a real bully is.” Had you walked into the room at that moment you’d have thought hundreds of people were playing a game of who can hold their breath the longest, such was the silence that followed the bungled sledge.
If this experience taught the overzealous Mundine supporter to read a room better, we reckon he will leave that one-liner in his kit bag at the next open mic night.
Horn had his first professional fight in 2013 but didn’t achieve mainstream popularity until he dethroned welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium last year.
Unless you’ve followed his career closely, you’re unlikely to know about the graft that’s gone into getting Horn to this point — not just before he defeated Pacquiao but even before he stepped into the ring for his professional debut against Jody Allen more than five years ago.
Either Mundine doesn’t know about the long road that’s seen Horn win amateur state titles, national titles and Olympic selection before reaching the big time, or he just doesn’t care. What he does know — or at least, what he believes — is Horn symbolises everything Mundine stands against in this world.
“It’s not personal, he just stands for and represents everything I fight. That’s all it is,” Mundine told reporters before clarifying what he fights is “injustice”.
“He’s a recipient of it and he wants to wave the (Australian) flag, he wants to do the white anthem and this and that. He doesn’t even understand it himself.”
Mundine has said he won’t stand for the “white supremacist” national anthem if it’s played on Friday night, much like he protested it in his rematch against Danny Green early last year.
He says it represents a nation that embraced the White Australia policy during the 20th century and reflects a time when injustice against indigenous Australians was at its worst.
To be fair, Mundine has more than earned the right to speak about such things. An advocate for change who has done much to help improve the lives of young Aborigines, he said in an interview with rugby league journalist Paul Kent on Fox Sports this week his most important achievements will come outside the boxing ring.
“I just want to bring people together and make the world a better place. I (want to) affect somebody and have a role in making the world a better place and lifting up somebody’s life,” Mundine said.
“I want to inspire people. I have people coming up to me saying I changed their life. When you have that type of impact, you’re chosen. You’ve got to make a difference.”
