CHAMPS JEFFING AMAZING
QUEENSLANDER JEFF HORN HAS STUNNED THE WORLD BY DEFEATING BOXING LEGEND MANNY PACQUIAO ON THE SAME DAY TAKUYA NOGUCHI BLITZED THE FIELD AT THE GOLD COAST AIRPORT MARATHON.
JEFF Horn can sell his old Camry now – parked outside his humble Acacia Ridge home – as he has guaranteed himself a multi-million-dollar future as potentially the richest Australian sportsman of all time.
And it couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
As Dr Ben Manion was inserting seven stitches into Horn’s busted right eyebrow in a dressing-room inside Suncorp Stadium yesterday afternoon, and as Horn’s younger brother Ben held a packet of ice against the boxer’s swollen face, the humble hero asked me to thank everyone for believing
in him. In 2013, I wrote about the young schoolteacher who had been bullied as a kid and had a dream to fight Manny Pacquiao.
Horn finally realised that dream yesterday.
After a thrilling, courageous
victory as Horn overcame the odds and a frightening ninth round when he was badly hurt, he said he was now ready to repeat yesterday’s effort against the biggest earner in his sport.
An emotional Horn called for a fight with Floyd Mayweather, who made $200 million beating Pacquiao on points in 2015 – in a far less entertaining bout.
Immediately after ring announcer Michael Buffer bellowed the words Horn had been desperate to hear – “The winner and NEW world champion …” – Horn said: “One quick thing first: This is just having a bit of a dig overseas to Floyd Mayweather, but that this is no joke.
“Which one does he want: The walking stick or the gloves?”
A huge cheer erupted as Horn said: “Come have a real fight.
“Mayweather says he’s the best boxer in the world, but his next fight is against a UFC fighter (Conor McGregor). If he wants to have a real fight, here I am.”
Horn had agreed to a rematch clause stipulated by Pacquiao for a return fight at Suncorp in November.
It was a multi-million insurance policy on exactly the boilover that unfolded in such dramatic fashion.
Whether Pacquiao, 38, and with so many political commitments as a high-ranking Filipino senator, really wants to put himself through a repeat of yesterday’s ordeal when both sides of his head were split open, remains to be seen.
JEFF Horn did it. He shocked the world and made every kid who has ever been bullied stand tall and proud to salute him.
The humble hero from suburban Brisbane scored one of the greatest wins ever in this country’s sporting history by taking Manny Pacquiao’s world welterweight title at Suncorp Stadium yesterday with a 12-round decision.
And yet, amid the euphoria, after putting an exclamation mark on an astonishing fairytale victory, he announced that winning the World Boxing Organisation welterweight title from one of the greatest fighters of all time was not really the highlight of his life.
That was still to come, he told the record crowd of 51,052 because his childhood sweetheart – wife Jo – is pregnant.
The Fighting Schoolteacher dug deep down into the recesses of his heart yesterday to tough out victory against one of boxing’s greats, surviving a badly-cut eye, a savagely-swollen face and a Pacquiao surge in the ninth round that had American referee Mark Nelson threatening to stop the bout.
But Horn held tough, he looked deep within to find another gear.
Prompted by coach Glenn Rushton to “remember the dream” he got back on top to win a bloodbath of non-stop pulsating action.
And while Pacquiao has a rematch clause in his contract for a return fight at Suncorp in November, Horn immediately sent out a challenge to Floyd Mayweather, the cocky American who earned $200 million by beating Pacquiao on points in 2015.
The crowd yesterday ensured Horn would take home more than $1 million from Australia’s biggest fight, with Pacquiao earning about 10 times that figure.
As he and Rushton had planned, Horn used his sharp footwork to send Pacquiao’s timing haywire in the early rounds.
The Filipino world champ constantly missed with his otherwise dangerous left hand as Horn stayed out of range before striking with his own cracking combinations.
The electric atmosphere at Suncorp was simply breathtaking and Horn and Pacquiao delivered a fight that more than lived up to the hype.
As Horn spoke in the ring immediately after the fight, blood dripped from a cut above his right eye and the bruising on his face was turning purple.
“It’s all worth it,” Horn said. “All the pain and sacrifice. I wanted to make my family and my friends proud.
“You saw today the power that comes from believing in yourself, from having good people around you and working towards a dream.”
Brisbane will pay tribute to Horn by holding a ticker-tape parade in Queen Street Mall at noon on Thursday.