Jeff Horn wasted no time today in Brisbane in his big main event with Anthony Mundine, knocking out the former world champion and likely sending him into retirement in just the first round of action.
Horn (19-1-1, 13 KO), a former welterweight titleholder, moved up to a catchweight between junior middleweight and middleweight for this fight, his biggest money opportunity after a one-sided loss to Terence Crawford in June of this year.
He made the opportunity count as much as possible, and sent the message that he’s far from finished in notable fights. An early right hand rocked Mundine (48-9, 28 KO) and showed Horn’s intent quickly, that he was out to do damage, to finish quickly, to overwhelm the 43-year-old Aussie star with power and speed.
Horn did just that. He went to the body a couple of times with real gusto, and then landed a left hook on the chin that sent Mundine crashing hard to the canvas. Though the veteran tried to get up, he just couldn’t, and the referee rightly stepped in to stop the bout at 1:36 of the first round.
Asked after the fight whether he’d move back down to 147 or stay at a higher weight, Horn said, “We’ll see what opportunities come. I might stay at (154), who knows? We’ll see what opportunities come.”
About the extra weight, he added, “I feel strong. That’s it, really. I feel a lot stronger than I do at welterweight,” so it sounds like he probably wants to stay as a junior middleweight going forward.
Mundine gave credit to Horn after the bout, saying, “Jeff proved tonight he was a better man. That’s the next generation, man, so I’ll pass it on to them. … I was ready, I was prepared well. It’s just boxing, man. You just get caught sometimes.”
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