‘Bud’ is bidding to become a three-weight world champion against the tough Aussie but may need a delay of between one and two months to be ready for the Manny Pacquiao conqueror.
Reacting to the news, Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton labelled the American ‘a princess’ for delaying the fight for what has been described as a ‘slight injury’.
“He seems to be a bit soft, toughen up princess,” Rushton told news.com.au.
“I wouldn’t see the need in Australia to postpone the fight — I think Terence needs to harden up a bit.
“Jeff had eight stitches three weeks out from his last fight, it was a bad injury and he missed 36 rounds of boxing but still went out and fought.
“A slight hand injury? Put some cortisone into it and let’s get it on.”
Rushton says the ailment and postponement will only serve to make Horn that much more confident of victory.
“I think it does. We think now he is not as tough as we thought he was,” Rushton stated.
“We will treat it as a psychological edge, use this as a positive and train even harder.”
Commenting himself, Horn was miffed by Crawford’s decision after enjoying a solid camp thus far and believes mind games could be in play or even a weight issue.
“I am frustrated. Hopefully it is an injury and not a tactic to try and throw us off our game,” said Horn.
“I can probably take it as a compliment that they are worried about me and I am a tough fighter because they are pulling out on something pretty small.
“He wants to put on those extra couple of kilos because that’s what he will need to be competitive against me,” he added.
Dates of May 19 or the first two Saturdays in June are now being considered.
