Veteran commentator Bob Sheridan stands almost entirely alone in the US boxing media as a sympathetic voice for Jeff Horn.
Known as "The Colonel", Sheridan believes the Australian champion would be far more popular in America were it not for the work of two ESPN analysts - Teddy Atlas and Stephen A. Smith.
Horn is still battling to shatter perceptions that he was gifted an incorrect decision over Manny Pacquiao last year, the fight that catapulted him from obscurity into the big time.
The 30-year-old Brisbane product was warmly received by the small crowd gathered at the MGM Grand casino for his open workout - but he's prepared for jeers come fight night against Terence Crawford on Sunday morning (AEST).
Sheridan, who has called over 10,000 bouts, said Atlas and Smith were to blame for that.
"In the back of Teddy's mind at the time, you've got to understand, (Pacquiao's promoters) Top Rank had just signed a huge contract with ESPN and it would have behooved them to have Pacquiao win that fight," Sheridan said.
"Teddy leaned the other way so far and he stuck with it, because he's that kind of guy. People at home watching on television believe everything he says.
"But more than Teddy, (Smith) called the fight a fraud, a fix, he said it was all home cooking - but none of the judges were Australian.
"If Smith had done his homework and didn't just fall in line with what Teddy had to say, the American perception would have been totally different."
Atlas still hasn't budged, and said on ESPN this week he'd sooner believe in "flying kangaroos" than back Horn to retain his world title against Crawford.
"Horn is from Australia, also referred to as 'down under'. And that's exactly where he's going - down and under in five or six rounds, at least in my estimation," Atlas said.
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