Home-town hopeful Jeff Horn says he has just one thing on his mind: following through on his plan to beat Manny Pacquiao and clinch the WBO welterweight world title.
Horn was greeted by keen boxing fans and well-wishers in a public training session in Brisbane's CBD, sparring with trainer Glenn Rushton before answering questions for the crowd.
An avid user of social media, Horn says he was happily surprised by the feedback on his online accounts and seeing a sea of supporters watching him in Brisbane Square.
"I was surprised on the way here, actually. About 9,000, 10,000 people, on the Facebook Live while driving here, answering questions. The support has definitely sky-rocketed, I can see that with all you guys watching here," he said.
And he hopes it's the start of acclimatising to what will be a huge welcome at Lang Park for the fight dubbed 'The Battle of Brisbane' on Sunday afternoon.
"I've never ever walked out in front of that many people cheering, especially not for myself," he said.
"I know a lot of people have come here to watch Manny Pacquiao, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of Brisbane support and support from all around Australia. I cannot wait.
"I keep picturing walking out of that tunnel and seeing all the people, and all the cheers. Hopefully they're all cheering for me."
Horn has just one thing on his mind — he still needs to focus on each step in the fight to get there — and that's landing the WBO welterweight title.
"I haven't pictured what punches are going to happen in the fight. All I picture for myself is my hand being raised and the belt going around my waist.
"I don't want to say I'm going to knock him out or anything, but I think I'm going to win this fight."
Pacquiao's mobile phone stunt shows he's 'not interested'
At Wednesday's pre-fight press conference, Pacquaio arrived late and spent the first quarter-hour fiddling with his mobile phone, while Horn watched on.
The schoolteacher-turned-rising-boxing-star said Pac Man would have been in trouble under his watch if he had pulled a similar stunt.
"It's a bit disrespectful, not just for me. I'm thinking about those watching it, seeing Manny Pacquiao, he's showing all of us he's not interested in what's going on," Horn said.
"Maybe that's him taking us lightly, I don't know. He'd definitely be in trouble in my classroom if he was doing that."
Nevertheless, Horn is expecting a titanic task ahead of him in taking down the Filipino legend.
"He's torn apart a lot of people, even a couple of fights ago, a former young champion in Jessie Vargas. Under 30 years old, and Pacquiao … just tore him to pieces and made him look silly," Horn said.
"He hasn't lost it, he's still got heaps of speed, heaps of power, and he's not to be taken lightly."
"I reckon I move a lot better than Jesse Vargas. I've got a great trainer behind me. We've done a 10-point plan and we can win this fight, if I follow that plan on the day, no matter what Pacquaio does, I should be able to win."
