Jeff Horn stuns Manny Pacquiao to become new WBO World Welterweight Champion
Jeff Horn did it. He shocked the world and made every kid who has ever been bullied stand tall and proud to salute him.
The humble hero from suburban Brisbane scored one of the greatest wins ever in this country’s sporting history by taking Manny Pacquiao’s world welterweight title at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday with a 12-round decision.
And yet, amid the euphoria, after putting an exclamation mark on an astonishing fairytale victory, he announced that winning the World Boxing Organization welterweight title from one of the greatest fighters of all time was not really the highlight of his life.
That was still to come, he told the crowd of 51,000, because his childhood sweetheart – wife Jo – is pregnant.
The electric atmosphere at Suncorp was breathtaking and Horn and Pacquiao delivered a fight that more than lived up to the hype.No one who was inside the Cauldron on Sunday will ever forget seeing the humble boxer from Acacia Ridge beating the boxing icon, who is now a Filipino senator
As Horn spoke in the ring immediately after the fight, blood dripped from a cut above his right eye and the bruising on his face was turning purple.
No one who was inside the Cauldron on Sunday will ever forget seeing the humble boxer from Acacia Ridge beating the boxing icon, who is now a Filipino senator
As Horn spoke in the ring immediately after the fight, blood dripped from a cut above his right eye and the bruising on his face was turning purple.
“It’s all worth it,” Horn said. “All the pain and sacrifice. I wanted to make my family and my friends proud. Manny was trying so hard in there and I really appreciate him giving me the chance to fight for this world title.”
“He hit me hard a few times in that ninth round and our heads banged together causing the cuts. Those head clashes buzzed me a few times, but there was nothing Manny could do that would stop me from my dream.
“I started learning self-defence from Glenn Rushton 11 years ago because I was getting beaten up at school.
“Glenn made me believe in myself. I didn’t even know how to throw a punch then but he gave me confidence, he made me believe I could achieve anything.
“You saw today the power that comes from believing in yourself, from having good people around you and working towards a dream.”
Story: Grantlee Kieza, The Courier-Mail
July 3, 2017