HORN DEFENDS TITLE AGAINST CORCORAN, TARGETS PACQUIAO, CRAWFORD OR MCGREGOR NEXT
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Oct 2017
Horn.
It's final, Jeff Horn will defend his WBO welterweight title against England's Gary Corcoran (17-1, 7 KOs) in Brisbane on December 13. News Corp Australia announced that Horn has agreed to a two-fight deal with the State Government and Brisbane City Council. The Corcoran bout will be the first for Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs), since his disputed decision over Manny Pacquiao last July at the Suncorp Stadium.The Horn-Corcoran fight will be held at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
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Horn admits his Englishman foe is young and dangerous. ?Corcoran is 26, so he?s three years younger than me, he?s very fit, strong and hungry,?? Horn said. ?He?s a dangerous guy. I know what it?s like to be a determined underdog just like he is going into this fight. This is his golden opportunity to do what I did against Pacquiao but there are millions of dollars on offer for me with big fights in 2018 so I can?t let this guy come to my home town and wreck all my good work.??
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Horn said he is happy to have his first defense of the title in Brisbane again. He expects Corcoran to come and show a lot of action providing entertainment for the Australian fans. "It's going to be a very entertaining fight, Gary comes to fight, he's a walk-forward fighter. I think for that reason it's going to be a big clash, an all-action clash that everyone is going to enjoy," Horn said. Promoter Dean Lonergan said negotiations were being finalized with Corcoran's team.
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Lonergan said they will attempt to lure in UFC superstar Conor McGregor who lost to Floyd Mayweather in a tenth round TKO last August in his professional boxing debut. "We are also working on a second event here at some stage next year before June 30," Lonergan said. "We'd love to have Manny Pacquiao down here again, he's certainly one of the guys on the table. There's been some murmurings and rumblings that perhaps we could get Conor McGregor down here."
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"I would put the challenge out to Conor McGregor, tell me how much you want and we'll see if we can make it work." Horn's promoter, Dean Lonergan, is planning to present McGregor with an offer. "It?s come out a little bit out of let field, but who knows, it?s possible,? Rushton said and he is positive Horn can do better. ?If the opportunity presents itself, we would certainly consider doing that fight and show the world that we can do a better job than Mayweather."
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Rushton is still hopeful Pacquiao will agree to a rematch. ?I spoke with Danny Leigh from the WBO last night and he was still fairly optimistic that Manny Pacquiao would come down here next April and fight Jeff Horn in the rematch,? Rushton said. According to Top Rank, the next fight in March or April, either in a rematch with Pacquiao or a defense against Terence Crawford. Pacquiao was suppose to face Horn on November but withdrew citing hectic senate duties.
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Tyson Fury said he will fight in April 2018, with two more fights to follow later on this year. The former IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion, stated that he will no longer lobby for the British Boxing Board of Control to reinstate his licence after the anti-doping and medical issues which put a question in his return. David Haye and Dereck Chisora previously fought each other at Upton Park in July 2012 without British licenses issued, so Fury's return could still be possible.
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The 29-year-old Fury announced his plan for 2018 and posted on Twitter that he will also take part in a "mega fight" in summer. Fury last fought in November 2015 when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision. He grabbed the IBF, WBA and WBO belts in the victory but has was stripped of the IBF belt before later vacating the WBA and WBO titles. Anthony Joshua now holds the IBF and WBA belts, with Joseph Parker the current WBO title holder.
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Featherweight world champions Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares both won their respective fights at the Premier Boxing Champions held at the StubHub Center in Carson, California and officially set up a world championship rematch between the two popular southern California champions early next year. "I want Abner Mares," said Santa Cruz. "I said if we both win, we're going to fight. I'm ready to fight him in Los Angeles in the beginning of next year."
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Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) defended his WBA (Super) featherweight title by stopping Chris Avalos (27-6, 20 KOs) in the eighth round. Mares (31-2-1, 15 KOs) earned a technical decision over Andres Gutierrez (35-2-1, 25 KOs) and retained his WBA (Regular) featherweight title. Jack Reiss stopped it in the 10th round because Gutierrez was unable to continue due to a cut. At the time of the stoppage all three judges gave Mares leading scores of 100-90 and 99-91 twice.
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Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez won the first 87 bouts of his career, and was not knocked down until his 91st fight. He wound up with 107 wins in his career. Chavez holds the records for the most total successful defenses of world titles with 27, shared with Omar Narvaez, most title fight victories with 31, and most title fights with 37. He has the second most title defenses won by knockout with 21, after Joe Louis with 23. He is considered as the greatest Mexican boxer of all time.
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Chavez is also regarded by many as one of the greatest boxers of all time. He holds the longest undefeated streak in boxing history at 13 years. His fight record was 89 wins, 0 losses, and 1 draw before his first professional loss to Frankie Randall in 1994, after he had an 87-fight win streak until his draw with Pernell Whitaker in 1993. Chavez's 1993 win over Greg Haugen at the Estadio Azteca set the record for the largest attendance for a boxing match of 132,274.
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Chavez is a six-time world champion in three weight divisions, and for several years was considered the best active boxer in the world, pound for pound. Chavez was named Fighter of the Year for 1987 by the Boxing Writers Association of America and 1990 by The Ring. He retired with a career record of 107 wins, 86 wins by KO, 6 losses and 2 draws. In 2010 he was inducted into the prestigious International Boxing Hall of Fame for the Class of 2011.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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