By: Ste Rowen
Horn Makes Easy Work of Mundine.
Former WBO welterweight world champion, Jeff Horn took less than two minutes to swat away fellow Australian, Anthony Mundine in Horn’s first fight at middleweight in the pro ranks.
Inside a packed-out Suncorp Stadium, the younger man immediately jumped on the front foot and with just less than half of round 1 to go, threw a powerful right to the body, followed up by two left hands to which Mundine didn’t appear to see coming. It sent the 43-year-old falling back onto the canvas and with zero chance of regaining his senses in time to beat the count.
‘The Hornet’ was coming off the back of a brutal stoppage to Terence Crawford in nine rounds, in which he also lost his world title as well as his ‘0’, but his bouts with two future hall of famers in Pacquiao and Crawford, set this fight up nicely for him to prove he’s currently levels above Mundine.
Anthony headed into tonight with a 48-9 (28KOs) record and having fought just once this year in a 2nd round knockout of Tommy Brown. This was just his third fight in three years. And it showed.
Now 19-1-1 (13KOs), Horn spoke post-fight,
‘‘It was easier than I expected it to be. I’m happy to have done it so quickly… I learnt that from my last fight, I was a little too stationary and I was getting a few of those straight shots to the body. I got him with that first one and I knew it was just a matter of time.
He’s an extreme athlete, I’ve got to give him that. He’s done some great things and I’ve only got respect for the guy.’’
The former welterweight champion seems to now be keeping his options open about what he does next but, whether it’s back down to 147, sticking it out at 160 or the in between of 154lb, Horn will almost definitely make his next fight an entertaining watch.