Horn ready for Vegas
AFTER a contentious upset over Manny Pacquiao to win his first world title and a successful defence on home soil, Australia’s Jeff Horn is ready to take his WBO welterweight belt to Las Vegas.
The former schoolteacher won by knockout in the 11th round in Brisbane on Wednesday night, when Gary Corcoran’s corner threw in the towel with the England-based boxer bleeding from a deep cut above his left eye.
It was Horn’s first fight since his unanimous decision upset over eight-division champion Pacquiao in front of more than 51,000 fans in July in the original “Battle of Brisbane” — a victory some critics dismissed as a hometown decision.
Horn, now unbeaten in 19 bouts, hopes the win sets him up for a fight against American Terence Crawford next year.
“Yeah, there is a lot to prove to a lot of the Americans,” Horn said, reflecting on the criticism after his win over Pacquiao.
“There’s always going to be the doubters.
“All I can do is keep winning, that’s the key — hopefully I can start changing people’s minds one by one.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he expected to soon confirm a Crawford-Horn fight in Las Vegas in April.
The early rounds on Wed- nesday were close, with Corcoran continually walking forward and the pair clinching in close.
But Horn landed enough punches to have a lead before he started to find his range in the seventh and dominated the next three rounds.
“It was a bit different this time, I wasn’t the underdog for a change. I was coming in (as) the champion,” Horn said.
“He definitely pushed me. I felt my timing was a bit off, but I got him in the end.”
Two judges had awarded all but one round to Horn before the fight was stopped, and the other had given all 10 rounds to Horn.
Corcoran (17-2) needed six stitches to the cut above his left eye and another four stitches to a cut on the right.
He said he wasted energy in the early rounds and it cost him.
“I just didn’t let my shots go, was getting very tense,” he said.
“You’re fighting for a world title. Better man won on the night, that’s it. I fought a good fighter. I’ll be back.”
Horn had plenty of support in Brisbane, where he’s related to the Lord Mayor and was part of a campaign to back the premier in a recent election.
Crawford, who watched the fight on ESPN, predicted Horn would get more than he was expecting in the US.