Jeff Horn doesn't have much of a boxing pedigree, but it has never really bothered him as a fighter.
When his coaches or training partners talk about modern fighters, or past greats, Horn remains happy to go about his business, mostly because he has little idea who they are talking about.
"I've seen bits of those guys. But even now, I don't watch much boxing. I should watch more," Horn concedes.
"I tend to watch people I know that have gone through the sport as opposed to famous fighters. I get crap all the time at the gym because they say a name in boxing and I have no idea who it is. It's a bit embarrassing.
"I'm not interested in the people even in my division. I don't care, really, because I don't have any respect for any of them."
Respect. Now there's a word that rings a bell with the 27-year-old London Olympian, now 12 bouts (11-0-1) into his undefeated professional record.
Respect from an opponent? That's already being won. Horn wants respect from those in the Australian fight game that turned up their noses at his services, only for him to be picked up by New Zealand-based promoters Duco, who also have elite heavyweight prospect Joe Parker on their books.
It's true that "The Hornet" doesn't have a sexy back story, or any wild gimmicks or slick entourage. Yet anybody who has seen the welterweight – now ranked seven by the WBO – do his thing knows that he has serious game and the chops to become a major player in his division.
"Does it motivate me? One hundred per cent. There was no deal given to me or offered to me in Australia," Horn said. "They're [Duco] looking after me very well. It was a shame that there was no Australian promoter able to offer me what they were willing to do.
"I'm not sure why there was no deals. It probably happened too fast for many of them to realise. But it's gone now. I'm ranked seven after 12 fights. I bet they didn't think that was going to happen, either."
Horn has been a busy boxer and continues to work his way northwards when he meets Argentine Alfredo Blanco (15-3-0) in Auckland on Thursday. It's for a motley soup of various belts but Horn knows he just has to keep on ploughing through anyone that has been put in front of him.
In his last fight, in August, he won a technical decision over veteran Ukrainian Viktor Plotnikov, surviving a nasty cut in his toughest test to date. Two fights before that, he administered a clinical knockout of previously undefeated Brazilian Robson Assis.
That he doesn't have the tongues of the wider public wagging is partly down to boxing's surge down the popularity drain, although those in the sport are beginning to realise the potential of Horn, who gave up PE teaching only at the start of the year to fight full time.
"I honestly think he's the best prospect we've had since Jeff Fenech," said Noel Thornberry, who trained Alex Leapai to his audacious world title shot against Wladimir Klitschko in April last year.
"He's got everything. He's smart, young, has great technique and fantastic power. There's no reason he can't go a very long way if things are handled well."
Horn doesn't dismiss such lofty talk. He's barely seen Fenech fight in any case, so ignorance might be bliss, although he welcomes any hype that might start to come his way.
"I don't tune out of it. I like pressure. I like heightened competition. The more people talk, the more it excites me and drives me. I'm starting to notice a bit more chatter, which is good for me. It makes me want bigger fights and to bring them to Australia," Horn said.
"I won an Australian title in my third or fourth fight and did the same in my pro career. It's no surprise to me. I didn't want to do anything like anyone else – I wanted to be pushed. If I'm not pushed, I don't compete at my best."
Horn intrigues for other reasons. He didn't set foot in a boxing gym until he was 18, although his reasons for showing up in the first place had more of a classical tone.
"It was only later on in high school we started getting picked on a little bit. Well, I did. After all that, me and my mates would muck around with boxing gloves, just have one each. I'd always do all right but there was only a few of us," he said.
"One of them decided to take me to a boxing gym, fairly randomly, and that was my first taste. My only other fight I'd even seen before that was a Danny Green-Anthony Mundine fight."
Even when he started to entertain the notion of taking the sport seriously, there was scepticism from who else but his old man, who executed "gentle encouragement with a dose of reality" perfectly.
"Dad took me to the Mansfield Tavern once in 2007. I was watching some of the boys fighting and I hadn't even had a fight yet. I told dad 'I reckon I could beat these guys'. He patted me on the shoulder and said: 'Righto, mate'."
Horn would beat those guys and now wants a world title fight next year. Incidentally, the man at the top of the WBO rankings is Manny Pacquiao, vanquished by Floyd Mayweather jnr but still one of the sport's main drawcards.
Even if there are a few bumps in the road for The Hornet, the pain of a loss could feel like a walk in the park compared with coming back to school with a black eye and cut and explaining it to 30 grade 2 students.
"It only happened once and I got a million questions that day. They hit me up right away, trust me."
