Anthony Mundine’s ring walk proved longer than his final fight as Jeff Horn launched a blistering early attack to knock out the 43-year-old and settle the showdown at Suncorp Stadium in just one minute 36 seconds.
Mundine confirmed after the bout that he would not return to the ring, saying that his “time is up” before suggesting he was passing the torch of Australia’s biggest fight figure over to Horn. “Jeff proved tonight he was a better man,” Mundine said. “That’s the next generation. That’s boxing, you just get caught.”
Although treated to only half a round, it was one with more action than seen in most of Mundine’s 12-round contests. An early right hand from Horn backed Mundine up, showcasing both his power and the absence of the evasive skills which have given the Redfern fighter’s career such longevity.
Surprisingly, Mundine abandoned the cagey bittersweet science that has been his trademark and looked to respond with flashing left jabs that earned Horn’s respect but provided only temporarily respite.
After the only clinch of the bout, referee Phil Austin drew the ire of the crowd for theatrically reprimanding Horn for leaning down on Mundine, who suggested pre-fight that he wanted protection from the perceived dirty tactics of the Brisbane fighter.
There was nothing to complain about shortly afterwards, when Horn followed his foe to the neutral corner where Mundine historically would have been covering up behind his left shoulder with his right arm ready to parry. Instead Horn saw a square target and landed flush causing Mundine’s eyes to glass over and legs to stiffen – a rigamortis just before the death of a fighting career that was confirmed by the referee’s waving arms.
Horn hinted afterwards that the bout, fought at a catchweight of 71kg just over the light-middleweight limit, would see him move up a weight division permanently.
“I was expecting a tough fight from Choc [Mundine],” Horn said. “That left hook while going to my right was the plan all along. They’ll know I’m more dangerous at this weight.”
Earlier, a flashpoint was avoided when the Australian anthem – which Mundine had said he would not stand for – was not played, officially due to time commitments. Timekeeping was not aided by Mundine’s entrance, which nevertheless roused the crowd from a narcolepsy-inducing undercard with an eclectic playlist including a remix of Yothu Yindu’s Treaty and Yella Beezy’s That’s on Me.
Horn’s more meat-and-potatoes choice of Seven Nation Army was more to the crowd’s satisfaction and his performance carried a similar pounding rhythm.
He could have been forgiven for starting slowly to regain confidence after his comprehensive defeat in losing his title in his last fight to pound-for-pound contender Terrance Crawford. But whereas back in June Horn’s footwork had the look of a man wearing football boots on an ice rink, this time he was on slicks while his opponent made a crash landing.
And after nearly two decades, casual fans got what they wanted – a humiliating knockout defeat for their nemesis – while the Australian pay-per-view boxing market took an even bigger whack.
