Mundine vs Horn: Your Boxing Preview

How They Measure Up

The Weight (71kg)

This has been a big part of the negotiations since the fight was confirmed. While many people are seeing the weight drop a disadvantage to Mundine, we think it’s quite the opposite. Although he’s spent a lot of his career fighting at 76kg and above, he’s had five wins at 71kg or lighter, including an impressive stoppage against “Sugar” Shane Mosley.

His ability to drop weight for fights has been one of his key strengths (far more than a rise in weight ie the second Green fight) over the years and although he was claiming this was going to be a hard weight to make, we’re tipping he is playing it up. The Horn camp would feel they are coming out of the negotiations with an edge, but The Man might be secretly smiling.

Lead up Fights

Jeff Horn

Obviously the pinnacle of Horns career was the Pacquiao bout and he deserves all the accolades he received. Horn was the aggressor and went at Pacquiao throughout the fight. The Filipino did rally late, taking control, and looked for a stoppage that never came. However, Horn had accrued too many points in the earlier rounds.

Tested by Gary Corcoran, Horn then went on to suffer the first defeat of his professional career against American Terence Crawford. We’re not taking too much out of this fight though. The American is currently ranked as the best fighter in the world, according to BoxRec, and Horn showed plenty of courage in that bout.

We don’t deduct any points from The Hornet, but it does show that he has issues with a good moving fighter.

Anthony Mundine

Mundine’s last big fight was a controversial defeat to his long time rival Danny Green. In this even bout Mundine showed more than just glimpses of his lightning speed, rallying through the middle of the fight.

In the end it wasn’t enough to win on the scorecard with Green using the a significant weight difference (could have been anywhere from 4-10kg’s by the time of the fight) to his advantage, proving too powerful.

Mundine then fought earlier this year at Star Casino but it had little build-up. His opponent, Tommy Browne, started with a flurry and was looking to rattle The Man early. However, class soon prevailed and he knocked out Browne late in the second round. Interestingly, Browne has since gone on to win three fights in a row.

The Betting

The Verdict

Despite the age difference, we’re backing The Man at the generous price. Horn is jumping up two weight divisions and although he’s taking on an old fighter, he’s also taking on a bigger, craftier fighter that can still knock people out.

If we’ve seen anything from watching good older fighters it’s that they know how to conserve energy throughout long bouts. Often, when you think a younger fighter with a perceived fitness advantage will take control of the bout, the wiser fighter reveals what they have in store.

This is often not enough to win the fight but at the price of $5.30 we certainly think it’s worth the chance. The perceived age difference is having too much influence on the odds and we’re with The Man.