The Hornet

My journey from bullied schoolboy to world champion

The story of Jeff Horn reads like a fairytale. Written with award-winning author, journalist and boxing aficionado Grantlee Kieza, The Hornet is the tale of a boy who, slapped around by bullies, saw through tears in his eyes a vision of himself as a hero, a champ, someone other people might one day look up to.

Horn took up boxing after being tormented as a teenager. Fast forward a dozen years and the former bullied schoolboy - now humble schoolteacher - became world boxing champion on 2 July 2017 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. The fight drew a record crowd to the stadium and a global audience of hundreds of millions, with Horn's victory over one of the greatest boxers of all time, Filipino senator Manny Pacquiao, one of the most incredible upsets in Australian sporting history.

But the fight was decided not amid the roar in the vast arena so much as in the chambers of Jeff Horn's heart, where the essence of his character lives with blood and fire beside his steel backbone.

Jeff Horn's journey to victory will resonate with anyone who has ever felt downhearted or dejected, anyone who has ever been an outsider. It's the revenge of the nerd, the rise of the geek, the coronation of the wimpy kid who once spent his lunchtime in the library to avoid the tough guys.

The now millionaire boxer's message is simple: never give up on your dreams, because if you push through tough times, amazing things can happen. Through his rise from the pit of despair to global sporting fame, Jeff Horn has proved to the whole world that anything is possible. Anything.