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In the classroom he's known as Mr Horn. But in the ring, call him "The Hornet".

A relatively unknown physical education (PE) teacher from Australia is weeks away from taking on Manny Pacquiao for boxing's world welterweight title.

If 29-year-old Jeff Horn - the "fighting schoolteacher" as promoters have dubbed him - can match the reigning champion, his life could change forever.

Who is Jeff Horn?

Eleven years ago, Horn was a self-described nerd from Brisbane who walked into a boxing club to learn self-defence.

He read books, played board games in the library at lunchtime, and was often the victim of bullying.

The only fighter in the family was his grandfather, Ray Horn, who put on exhibition matches in outback Queensland in the 1930s.

His dad, Jeff Horn Sr, is a builder. His mum, Liza Sykstra, works for the St Vincent de Paul Society.

"I got into a few fights at high school," Horn told the BBC. "I didn't win the majority of those fights either."

But his trainer, Glenn Rushton, told Horn he could become an Australian champion and set about teaching him an unpredictable boxing style - "broken rhythm pressure fighting".

In 2012, Horn made the Olympic boxing quarterfinals while studying for his education degree. He then turned professional.

Working as a substitute teacher, Horns won prize purses sometimes as low as A$2,000 (£1,100, $1,500). Until recently, he taught students at Pallara State School in Brisbane.

But now his full-time job is being the second-best welterweight boxer in the world - behind only Pacquiao.

"I'm a month out from the biggest fight of my life," Horn said, earlier in June.

"I've been getting messages from past students wishing me luck."

How big is the fight?

It has taken months of negotiations to bring about what's been hyped as the "Battle of Brisbane", scheduled for 2 July. An earlier proposed fight between Pacquiao and Britain's Amir Khan fell through.

The event has, at least temporarily, rekindled Australia's interest in boxing.

More than 50,000 people are expected to fill Queensland's Suncorp Stadium, with tickets selling for hundreds of dollars per seat. It will be televised in more than 150 countries, according to Horn's sports manager Jim Banaghan.

The boxer's wife and parents have even been pulled into some of the media attention.

"They're happy for me but they're nervous as well. They don't want to see me get hurt," Horn said.

After Pacquiao's fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2015 became the most lucrative in history, the Australian bout may be regarded as something of a sideshow. Pacquiao may meet Mayweather for an anticipated rematch.

Pacquiao, 38, is also a serving senator in his native Philippines. During a series of promotional news conferences in Australia in April, Pacquiao appeared more interested in his phone than his opponent.

It was a scene to disappoint fans of boxing trash-talk: two clean-cut fighters speaking politely and respectfully about one another.

"I know what my opponent is feeling right now is hunger," Pacquiao said.

"I've been there. I've been there in that situation. When I was starting, when I was young, even at night before I went to sleep, I was thinking about the fight."