Kangaroos go fly around MGM Grand; why not?
The first time they listed down the odds, defending WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn was pegged a pitiful 6-1 underdog.
That has hardly changed, as Horn’s fight with American boxing superstar Terence Crawford at the MGM Grand Las Vegas neared.
Both warriors are unbeaten. Horn, 18-0-1 with 12 KOs; Crawford 32-0-0, 23 KOs.
They clash on Sunday.
Horn was also the underdog in Brisbane when he upset world boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion, July last year.
At least, Horn had the support of the mammoth home crowd when he clashed with Pacquiao.
In Las Vegas on Sunday, Horn would be fortunate to have a handful to root for him.
There’s the strong feeling among majority of American fight fans and experts that Horn, a former school teacher, would be taken back to school (by Crawford) before he gets crushed.
Horn has remained unmoved, saying he’s sure to end up victorious.
Of the dozen mostly American experts polled by ESPN, only one—Jake Michaels of ESPN Australia—sided with Horn.
Julio Cesar Chavez, Nigel Collins, Joe Cortez, Dan Rafael and a few others firmly believe Crawford, considered the poster boy of American boxing today, would breeze through his not-too-significant opponent.
The awesome odds said it clear: Horn would need nothing short of a miracle to prevail.
Tough-talking boxing expert Teddy Atlas, a retired prizefighter, said Crawford should send Horn back to Australia—asleep.
“Horn is from Australia, Down Under, exactly, that’s where he’s going to go.”
Atlas added Horn should be down and out in 5 or 6 rounds.
“I start believing in flying kangaroos if the WBO champ could pull it off.”
Atlas has not always been supremely accurate.
