HORN IS AWARDED BY SPORTS AUSTRALIA AND SAYS HE IS THE KING OF UNDERDOGS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 14 Oct 2017
WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn was awarded one of Australia's top sporting honors as the most inspirational athlete of the year due to his shocking upset win over eight division champion Manny Pacquiao. The recognition was held at the annual Sport Australia Hall Of Fame dinner in Melbourne. Horn said still it is hard to believe he beat one of the world's greatest fighters. "It's been very hectic since the win but recognition and awards like this certainly help," he said.
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Jeff Horn's next possible opponent is not a household name and Horn's trainer Glenn Rushton is reluctant to categorically name Gary Corcoran as the tuneup foe in preparation for the big fight next year. Rushton said if Horn defended his title against the unknown Englishman, his boxer would target a rematch with Manny Pacquiao or the world's present best pound-for-pound boxer, the undisputed light welterweight champion Terence Crawford, possibly on March next year.
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Corcoran has a record of 17-1, 7 KOs but Rushton believes he is the perfect warm-up for a March bout, even if still he would not mention his name. "We are very close to an announcement. I am confident it will be in Brisbane in mid-December," Rushton said regarding Horn's next fight. "An opponent is close to being locked in, an Englishman, but I won't go any further than that. But it will be an epic bout. This bloke comes to fight."
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The 26-year-old Corcoran has never fought outside the United Kingdom and is the underdog against Horn who has 17-0-1, 11 KOs. But Rushton said it was all part of the big picture. "Jeff's like a taxi; you've got to keep his motor running; I've got to keep him hot," Rushton told BoxingScene. "After the voluntary title defence, we will have a mandatory fight against hopefully Pacquiao or Crawford. Either way, training will get more serious for Jeff on Monday."
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Horn was not concerned about who he would clash next, possibly on December 15 in Brisbane. "I have got five years at least in me to stay on top of the game. I will just keep knocking over whoever they put in front of me," he said. Horn considers the most inspirational athlete award, called The Don Award, very special. "I wasn't expecting it, just like a lot of people weren't expecting me to win against Pacquiao. I guess I am king of the underdogs now."
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WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai requested a voluntary defense before facing his mandatory title fight with Juan Francisco Estrada. According to promoter Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, who also handles Estrada, the fight with Sor Rungvisai is very close at the scheduled date of February 24, in California, as main event of Superfly 2. So, its next to impossible for Sor Rungvisai to make a voluntary defense before the Estrada fight.
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"It's already locked in for February 24th in Los Angeles," Beltran told ESPN Deportes. "It's a fight where we are sure that Estrada will rise again after the beating he gave to Cuadras. We will try to give him the position he deserves. Estrada will be ready for that fight, and I'm sure he has the quality to be able to impose his skills on Rungvisai." Beltran states that Superfly 2 could also feature Carlos Cuadras and Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez in the undercard.
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In March, Sor Rungvisai won a shocking unanimous decision over Gonzalez to capture the WBC title. Because there was a controversy with the scorecards, the WBC order a rematch. They also ordered an eliminator, for the WBC interim title, between Estrada and Cuadras. Last month, Sor Rungvisai destroyed Gonzalez with a fourth round knocked out. Also on the same card, Estrada (36-2, 25 KOs) won a close decision over Cuadras to earn a world title fight with Sor Rungvisai.
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Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto will fight at the "World?s Most Famous Arena" Madison Square Garden for the 10th time on December 2. ?I?m very excited to be back in the ring for my final fight at The Garden,? said Cotto, who has fought the likes of Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Paulie Malignaggi, and Sergio Martinez at the venue. Cotto will face Sadam Ali, who is from nearby Brooklyn, who defeated Johan Perez by unanimous decision on July 29.
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?I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to fight a legend in Madison Square Garden in front of all my fans and on HBO,? said Ali as quoted by BoxingScene. ?My time is now. God willing, I will leave the Garden with the championship belt.? Golden Boy Promotions has reserved the venue since August. Oscar De La Hoya described Cotto as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, a true legend in Puerto Rico, New York, and beyond and "a true credit to the sport of boxing."
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AIBA thru its disciplinary commission suspends its president Wu Ching-kuo and appoints Franco Falconelli as its acting interim president. The grounds are the allegations of financial mismanagement after a court battle between the rival factions within world boxing's governing body. A majority vote of 15 out of 17 AIBA executive committee members confirmed Falconelli's appointment, which will be submitted for official ratification at an extraordinary congress next month.
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Fans sent ?Get Well? cards to Evander Holyfield in advance of his fight with Mike Tyson where he was the 25-1 underdog. They fought for the WBA heavyweight championship in 1996. In the 6th round, Holyfield decked Tyson with a left hand and in the 10th Holyfield hit him with a powerful combination, followed by eight unanswered punches. The fight was stopped 37 seconds into the 11th round. It was one of the most shocking upsets in boxing history.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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