Horn vs Corcoran results: Jeff Horn stops Gary Corcoran, retains WBO belt
Jeff Horn plugged away and stopped Gary Corcoran in the 11th round.
Terence Crawford may be next for Jeff Horn, but that’s for 2018. For now, a huge 2017 has ended for Jeff Horn’s career with a solid victory and a successful WBO welterweight title defense at home in Brisbane, Australia.
Horn (18-0-1, 12 KO) stopped challenger Gary Corcoran (17-2, 7 KO) in today’s fight, when referee Benjy Esteves Jr called a halt to the fight at 1:35 of the 11th round, acting on the instructions of Corcoran’s corner.
Corcoran fought hard and did the best he could, but was outclassed by Horn in the fight, which was a rough and active affair. Both fighters had multiple cuts, but it was a cut on Corcoran’s left eye that stopped the fight.
Horn, 29, was just the better fighter in this one. He was a better boxer than the 27-year-old Corcoran, who couldn’t build any serious momentum in the fight despite his consistent efforts. BLH had the fight 98-92 for Horn at the time of stoppage.
“I knew he had prepared, they talked a smart game, that’s being confident before a fight,” Horn said. “He definitely pushed me in there. I felt my timing was a bit off, but I managed to get him out of there in the end.”
Asked about potentially fighting mandatory challenger Terence “Bud” Crawford in April, which seems to be Top Rank’s target, Horn wasn’t fully committal, but ultimately may not have a choice.
“It’s a big possibility. If that’s what everyone wants to see, I guess that’s what’s going to happen. It’s all the entertainment business, of course,” Horn said.
According to CompuBox, Horn landed 168 of 549 (31%) of his total punches, and 122 of 375 power shots (32.5%), compared to Corcoran’s 138 of 445 (31%) total punches, and 125 of 371 (34%) power shots. The big difference in much of the fight, and what largely contributed to the stoppage, was the difference in jabbing. Horn landed 46 of 174 (28%) of his jabs, compared to just 13 of 74 (18%) from Corcoran, who often barreled forward without punching his way in.
The fight will be replayed tonight at 9:30 pm ET on ESPN2.