Horn vs. Corcoran Preview

On Wednesday, December 13, at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Brisbane’s own Jeff “The Hornet” Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs), in his first fight since mugging Manny Pacquiao, will defend his WBO welterweight title against Gary “Hellraiser” Corcoran (17-1, 7 KOs), from Wembley, London, England.

Thirty-eight-year-old Pacquiao had lost three of his last eight fights dating back to 2012 going into the fight with Horn. A 12:1 underdog, the 29-year-old Aussie, who had been fighting professionally for only four years, wasn’t given much of a chance against the future Hall-of-Famer. But he outhustled and outslugged the champion on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Against Corcoran, however, the odds are in his favor, and if Horn gets by his British challenger, he may fight former unified junior welterweight champ and top 10 pound-for-pounder Terence Crawford.

“Everyone should learn not to underestimate me,” said Horn about the prospect of fighting Crawford. “That’s one of my biggest strengths; people underestimate me and then I win. Nobody is going to take this belt away from me cheaply.

“Bob Arum wants one of his fighters to hold on to that belt. He’s got a two-fight deal with me, so Terence Crawford would be my last one. It depends if we are going to renegotiate a contract or whether he wants Terence to win because he’s a Top Rank fighter.”

Defeating Crawford will be tough whether Arum wants him to win or not. Because, let’s face it, Crawford is that damn good.

“I’m not going to look too far ahead,” Horn said. “I’ve got to take care of Gary first. He’s told me he wants to take this belt from me so that has to be my focus. Then I’ll see who the number one contender is next year.”