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Trainer turns on Jeff Horn's camp with explosive allegations

Jeff Horn's cornerman Adam Copland, pictured here calling off the fight.
Jeff Horn's cornerman Adam Copland was the one to call off the fight. Image: Main Event/Getty

Glenn Rushton has come out swinging in an explosive statement defending his actions during Jeff Horn’s loss to Tim Tszyu.

Horn’s head trainer, Rushton came under heavy fire for trying to convince Horn to keep fighting when he looked completely spent against Tszyu last month.

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In the end it was actually cornerman Adam Copland - who had fought on the undercard - who told the referee they were throwing in the towel.

In a stunning statement released on Thursday, Rushton defended himself and slammed Copland for “ending Jeff’s career.”

“The footage appears to confirm that Adam, in particular, was largely responsible for ending the fight and quite possibly, Jeff’s career,” Rushton wrote on Facebook.

“This was a shame, as Adam had been sent to the canvas during his fight earlier in the night, went to hospital the following morning and shouldn’t have even been on the apron in the first place.

“The fact that he was on the apron tells me that he probably wasn’t thinking clearly, as he knows the rules.”

Rushton claims Copland also tried to end Horn’s fight with Michael Zerafa in 2019 before Horn staged a remarkable fightback to win.

Copland then shot back at Rushton on Instagram, saying the trainer was “digging his own grave.”

Tim Tszyu, pictured here landing a punch on Jeff Horn during their fight in Townsville.
Tim Tszyu lands a punch on Jeff Horn during their WBO Super Welterweight title bout. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

“For Glenn to write this about me, with not one phone call to me after the fight asking why I stopped it, just shows what type of person he is,” Copland wrote.

“To say I was concussed and confused is nothing but defamatory and false. Of course I knew what was going on and so did the rest of Australia.

“I could sit here and write 2700 words about him like he did about everyone else in his post but I think he says enough for everyone to understand who he is as a person.

“And yes, I called him and told him all my problems about his post before I decided to post this, as that in my eyes, is the right thing to do. And of course there was no acceptance of any wrong doing as usual.

“I love Jeff Horn and his whole family. I hope the public does not associate Jeff Horn with Glenn Rushton’s garbage. As no one deserves that.”

Rushton cited Horn’s victories over Zerafa and Manny Pacquiao as reasons why he wanted his man to keep fighting.

“You don’t stop a fight just because a boxer is losing – you stop a fight if a boxer is injured and can’t continue or is being badly hurt by his opponent – neither of these were the case in Jeff’s fight,” Rushton said.

Boxing world slams Glenn Rushton ‘disgrace’

Horn was comprehensively beaten during the super-welterweight bout in Townsville, with boxing legend Jeff Fenech at one stage saying Horn didn’t look like he’d get out of the fourth round.

“To hear that corner argue about (stopping), when Jeff Horn couldn’t even answer if he wanted to fight, to tell him to go back out is disgraceful," Fenech said in commentary.

Boxing expert Paul Kent was particularly scathing of Rushton's actions, labelling them "embarrassing" and “amateurish”.

“For Glenn Rushton, who is Jeff Horn’s trainer, to be sitting there at the end of the eighth round asking if he wants to fight again, whether he has one more punch in him, whether he has one more minute in him, was absolutely embarrassing to be honest,” Kent said.

“It showed the amateurism that’s been in Jeff Horn’s corner for much of his career.

“The greatness of Jeff Horn is he’s been able to overcome that.”