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Terence Crawford’s camp to ban Aussie media ahead of Horn fight

Terence Crawford's combative manager Brian McIntyre says he intends to ban Australian media from speaking to his fighter ahead of Saturday night's welterweight title fight with Jeff Horn in Las Vegas.

Crawford arrived in Sin City on Monday but wouldn't stop for Australian television cameras as he arrived at the MGM Grand, which will host the bout on the weekend. McIntyre suggested that would be the theme of the week.

No time to talk: Terence Crawford.

Photo: AP

"No Aussies are interviewing him because you will just twist our words," McIntyre said, confirming speculation earlier in the day that the Crawford camp was highly reluctant to deal with the Australian media contingent in town to cover the fight.

While Horn and Crawford have been deeply respectful of each other in the lead-up, the same can't be said for their various managers, trainers and promoters. Now the media have been caught in the crossfire.

Relations hit rock bottom when Crawford was labelled as 'soft' and a 'princess' by Horn's trainer Glenn Rushton after the fight was postponed back in April due to a hand injury.

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In a salty tirade last month, McIntyre made it clear he would letting them know about it if Crawford saluted to win his first title after moving up a weight division.

"Terence Crawford, to you Australian fans, is going to whoop Jeff Horn's butt. We're sorry, we'll bring the belt back over so you guys can look at it and polish it up a little bit, maybe we'll come over there and shake some hands or something like that. But I'm sorry. We're about to whoop Jeff Horn's ass," McIntyre said.

"Nope, f–k 'em. No buddy. I was trying to be nice to his coach, he wanted to try and put my name out there in the media, wanted to talk stuff about me, how many fights I've got, how many losses I've got.

"I never said anything bad about his coach but you know what? F–k him from the time that he was talking sh-t and f–k him all the way to the end after we get his belt."

Crawford was due to train on Tuesday night with Australian media scheduled to attend the workout. That could be unlikely given events late on Monday, with Crawford and McIntyre's only interaction with Australian media now likely to be at official commitments throughout the week.

"I think hes the kind of kid that whether he wins or loses, hes going to make a great impression in the United States": Bob Arum on Jeff Horn.

Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Duco

It sets the scene for a potential fiery confrontation, or at least one that should be highly entertaining, when the camps finally run into each other over coming days.

Earlier in the day, Top Rank boss Bob Arum said Horn wouldn't be written off as a fighter enjoying his 15 minutes of fame for much longer, insisting he will convert a sceptical American boxing public in his title defence.

Horn was been widely tipped to lose by a margin and local sports books have installed him as a $6-7 outsider to retain the belt he won from Manny Pacquiao and defended against England's Gary Corcoran.

Arum, who promotes Crawford and is in the final fight of an agreement with Horn and his managers Duco, insists boxing insiders know the truth and Horn (18-0-1) won't be rolling over in the face of Crawford, who has been billed as a future star of the sport and the face of ESPN's new app, which will broadcast the fight in the US.

"I think hes the kind of kid that whether he wins or loses, hes going to make a great impression in the United States. Hes good for boxing. Im sure hes going to acquit himself extremely well," Arum told Australian reporters on Monday.

"People who know boxing… boxing insiders… know that if you are competitive with an elite fighter like Manny Pacquiao, he has to be considered an elite fighter. Any fighter that could absorb the punishment took in the ninth round, is going to be a dangerous kind of fighter.

"Its one thing to overwhelm a fighter. And then to see him come back from that type of beating and win the majority of the remaining rounds, was something special. You just cant forget that performance when you are looking at Horn."

Phil Lutton

Sports reporter

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