Thanks for following along on this, a long lead-up to an extremely quick fight. Until next time!
Here’s Ciaran Baynes’s take on what turned out to be a very, very short fight:
Updated
Horn has just surfaced from the dressing rooms for another interview. “It’s the perfect night,” he said.
“I learnt that from my last fight [that] I was a little too stationary and I was getting a few of those straight shots to the body. I got [Mundine] with that first one and I knew it was just a matter of time ... I didn’t feel him buckle but I just knew that the landing shot was just perfectly timed and I knew it would have hurt.”
Of the knockout blow, a left hook following a straight right, he said: “A lot of those left hooks going to my right was the plan all along.”
Horn said he only had respect for Mundine. “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.”
His plans now are to “reassess”: to talk to his trainer about his options. “Let’s see how fast they offer me the world title shot again after that performance,” he said.
Mundine bowing out with something resembling grace – as much as that is possible after a first-round knockout: “I’ve had a great career. Jeff proved tonight that he was the better man with a better shot. That’s the next generation, man. I was ready, I was prepared. It’s just boxing, you just get caught sometimes.”
And on that trash talk: “All the smack talk, all the shit I talk, you gotta build the fight, you know what I mean? It’s the entertainment business. But I’m all right, I’m good. It’s boxing.”
The post-match interviews feel rather flat after that minute and a half of adrenaline, I gotta say.
Horn said he was “expecting a tough fight from Choc” but “felt really strong in this fight. [It was] easier than I expected it to be.” When asked if he was happy that the fight with so fast, he laughed and said: “Saves my brain a little bit more. I’m happy to have done it quickly.”
Well, quite.
Wow. This insane first and only round began with Horn feinting, then coming in with heavy punches very early. Mundine returned with a some hard straights. Horn was reprimanded within the first minute by referee Phil Austin to boos from the crowd. He definitely seemed to be going for an early knockout – and then got it, at only 1:36 seconds into the fight.
Updated
Mundine knocked out in the first round
Incredible scenes as Mundine is knocked down before the first round has even finished.
Horn is coming out now, decked out in orange and black, jogging – no sauntering here – flanked by security, to the sounds of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army.
It's ring-walk time
Finally, the main contenders are walking into the ring.
Anthony Mundine comes out first – with a huge entourage and at least two Aboriginal flags – to a medley of songs, none of which I can identify over the commentators babbling and the sound of the crowd, with the single exception of Treaty by Yothu Yindi. He’s taking his time getting into the ring. He must have some 20 people with him.
Updated
Brent Rice and Liam Wilson’s fight is – finally – over after 12 rounds, and Wilson has won unanimously, becoming the new Australian super featherweight champion.
Updated
Gerard Whateley, commentator, has just told us not to go anywhere. We’ve stuck it out this long, Gerard.
The struggle is real.
By the time this fight starts glen rushtons dress sense will be back in fashion!! #HornMundine
— Simon (@fmd0277) November 30, 2018
Didn't realise this was gonna be the lead in to the Today show. #HornMundine
— Josh Howe (@JoshO567) November 30, 2018
And for those of you in Sydney...
Add an hour for daylight saving, and it's going to be #LockOuts before #KnockOuts tonight! #HornMundine
— Jacob Aldridge (@jacobaldridge) November 30, 2018
The turmoil in Olympic boxing continues.
If you’re feeling like this is all taking quite a while to get to the point, you are absolutely not alone. The main event was scheduled for 10:30pm AEDT – we’re half an hour past that and the masses are getting restless...
How many fights have started in one month and finished in another? This could well wrap up after midnight local time - that's December 1. #HornMundine #RiverCityRumble
— Caden Helmers (@cadenhelmers) November 30, 2018
Wait for it... they may literally have to WAKE UP JEFF! for this fight at this rate #HornMundine
— Phil Lutton (@phillutton78) November 30, 2018
Brent Rice and Liam Wilson are currently battling it out for the Australian super featherweight championship. Wilson, highly accomplished as an amateur, has only had two professional fights before this – both of which he won by knockout – to Rice’s eight.
Mundine also says he's 'feeling good'
“I feel good, man,” Mundine said backstage. “I feel calm, relaxed. It’s just the calm before the storm. I’m just enjoying the moment. I’ll put on a great performance.”
OK, then.
Horn says he's 'feeling good'
Backstage, Jeff Horn says “the anticipation is really up there at the moment” but that he’s “feeling good”. “This is the same moment I lived a year ago [against Pacquiao]. I’m just trying to relive that moment.”
One fight to go before Horn v Mundine
Ben Mahoney has come out on top of his five-round middleweight fight against Adrian Rodriguez in a split decision. One more undercard fight to go before the big one. Next up: Brent Rice v Liam Wilson. Stay with us.
Updated
And if you’re looking for some light reading before the main event, our UK colleagues have just published this heavyweight retrospective:
Speaking of trash talk, here’s a little primer on how and why it’s such a feature of combat sports.
Mundine, with his characteristically divisive persona, has been trying to make this fight a battle of egos, calling himself the “dream crusher”, knowing perfectly well that winning will likely mean the end of Horn’s professional career. But Horn has been almost entirely unflappable, even hosing down his own trainer’s comments that Mundine might have to resort to diuretics to make weight.
“He’s a good kid but he’s not in my league,” Mundine said of Horn. “He can’t trash talk. He is like watching paint dry, he is that boring.”
There are many things you could call Mundine, but boring is not one of them. Even putting aside all the offensive things he’s said about women, the LGBT community and everyone he’s ever fought, the man does know how to put on a show. He even fulfilled the desire of so many of his detractors that he would, at last, get in the bin:
I know, I know, it’s the easiest joke in the world with a photo like that. Just be glad I didn’t say he was trying to “stir up the Hornet’s nest”.
The ring announcer tonight is Daniel Hennessy, also known as Lt Dan, who you may remember announcing such illustrious bouts as Horn v Pacquiao. Apparently he is also a DJ, sometimes known as DJ Danimal, but I have no confirmed sources for this. My colleague, meanwhile, has reminded me of Lt Dan from Forrest Gump, and now that’s all I can think of.
Do you have other interesting factoids to share? Please let me know on Twitter: @gingerandhoney.
Australia’s Cameron Hammond has just finished 10 rounds against Venezuela’s Frank Rojas. A lot of circling, feinting and testing that every now and then erupted into some hard exchanges in this fight for the WBA Oceania welterweight championship, with Hammond ultimately declared the winner in a unanimous points decision.
Food update: Jeff Horn is currently tucking into some canteloupe. Earlier tonight at Suncorp, in front of a sea of empty seats, Jeff’s younger brother Ben lost his debut professional fight to another debutant, Lachlan O’Shea.
Updated
There was a little pre-fight biffo at the Mundine/Horn weigh-in this week. As the opponents stood toe-to-toe for the traditional manly stare-down for the cameras, Horn appeared to whisper something in Mundine’s ear. Mundine responded by grabbing Horn by the chin and shoving him backwards into his handlers.
“I’m just fired up, man,” Mundine later said. “I’m like a caged lion right now. I’m ready to eat him.”
Look, The Man may well be hungry: the 71kg catchweight fight had inbuilt penalties for Mundine, who was reportedly cutting back from 80kg, if he came in even slightly bloated, with fines of $20,000 per every 100 grams for the first kilogram over 71kg, and $500,000 for every subsequent kilo. He ended up weighing in at 70.25kg on Thursday, while Horn came in at 70.55kg. And, just to ensure he didn’t pack the pounds back on again overnight, Mundine was required to weigh in two hours before the fight, too, and not to exceed 75kg.
The lessons are: carb-load in moderation (Mundine was just seen digging into some Uncle Toby’s oats) and don’t play with your food.
Fighters arrive at Suncorp
Mundine entered the stadium during the Mackenzie/Chua bout. Apparently he drove himself in. Reports at around 7.30pm local time were that Horn was stuck in traffic, but he arrived soon after in a golden Lexus with “Hornet” emblazoned on the side, saying that the police had helped him make the journey a little bit faster. Is that really the best use of police resources? You decide.
Updated
We’ve had a couple of undercard fights already tonight.
Spirited and fast-moving, Kye Mackenzie and Francis Chua’s six-rounder saw a lot of heavy blows thrown early on, but both lightweights began to tire quickly. The final minutes saw two exhausted fighters pushing themselves to their limits, Chua eventually winning by split decision.
David Aloua fought Kurtis Pegoraro in a short four-round fight that began without too much drama. A lot of wrestling and some hard hits followed, with a frustrated Aloua struggling to land a blow on Pegoraro, who barely looked like he was trying. Pegoraro won easily by unanimous decision.
Updated
Preamble
Good evening and welcome to River City Rumble! I’m Guardian Australia’s deputy culture editor by day; boxing enthusiast and dabbler by night (and occasionally, very early in the morning).
Two titles are on the line in tonight’s main event at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane: the currently vacant WBA Oceania middleweight title, and the WBO oriental middleweight title, currently held by Anthony Mundine. He scooped up the WBO oriental middleweight title when he fought Tommy Browne in January, knocking out the western Sydney boxer in only the second round.
For Horn, the stakes are high. After winning the WBO welterweight title against Manny Pacquiao in his home town of Brisbane in 2017 and defending it against the UK’s Gary Corcoran last December, he lost it to American Terence Crawford in Vegas in June. That fight that saw a totally relaxed and in control Crawford push Horn to his limits before defeating him by TKO in the ninth round. It was Horn’s first professional loss. He really needs to win tonight to keep his career going – and it will surprise many if he doesn’t.
For Mundine, though, the fight may represent his swansong. The 43-year-old is widely expected to put his 18-year stint in the professional circuit to bed after tonight.
This is the second time Horn has faced down a massive boxing identity in the twilight of their career. “[Mundine] has had his time and now it is my time to take over,” Horn said. “I am surprised his career is still going.”
Will this fight represent changing of the guard in Australian boxing? Or will Horn “walk into a big bomb and it’ll all be over”, as Mundine’s trainer and father, Tony, predicts?
Stay with me as we follow it live. And if you need to get anything off your chest please do feel free to email or tweet @gingerandhoney.
Updated
