Australian boxing seems to love a long shot.
Often Aussie fighters are thrown in at the deep end against the world’s best with either a big belt, or a huge wad of cash, on the line.
Think Alex Leapai vs Wladimir Klitschko, Daniel Geale vs Gennard Golovkin, Glen Kelly vs Roy Jones Jr, Nedal Hussein vs Manny Pacquiao, Renold Quinland vs Chris Eubank Jr, Sam Soliman vs Jermain Taylor, the list goes on.
The result is almost universally the same – a defeat for the green and gold underdog as expected. No Rocky Balbo finish.
The latest in this line is Jeff Horn against Manny Pacquiao. The Brisbane school teacher against the Filipino freak, the man who is one of the greatest ever to lace up a boxing glove.
The two lock horns this Sunday at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, a 52,500 capacity arena that is usually home to football, rugby union and rugby league.
The build-up to the fight has been huge with Suncorp expected to be a sellout. Around 200,000 pay-per-view buys are tipped to be bought, making it one of the biggest fights ever on Australian soil, if not the biggest.
And that’s all despite the fact Horn is a massive long shot, a little-known fighter who is up against a legend of the sweet science.
Bookmakers have Pacquiao, unsurprisingly, as the huge favourite and the local man Horn the huge underdog. It’s not hard to see why.
Pacquiao has 67 fights in his long career, winning 59, losing six and with two draws. The 38-year old has only lost to some greats – Floyd Mayweather Jr, Juan Marquel Marquez and Erik Morales in the last 17 years – and has made history in his time in the ring.
He has won world titles in eight different divisions, moving up from flyweight to his current class of welterweight. ‘The Pacman’ has tangled with the best and beaten the best.
In contrast, his opponent, Horn, has not. The Australian has only been a professional for four years and has only been boxing as an amateur for 11 years. He fought in the London Olympics and lost at the quarter-final stage.
As a pro, Horn has 16 fights, for 15 wins and one draw. All of his bouts have been staged in Australia or New Zealand. No one of his opponents have been in the Pacquiao class and he has never won a world title. Like Pacquiao, Horn is quiet, respectful character. He is not a trash-talker or a showman in the ‘Money Mayweather’ mould. Think more studious and restrained.
