Mega fights in the Australian boxing scene seem few and far between, but when they come around they generally bring out the masses. This weekend sees two giants of the sport in Australia squaring off as Jeff Horn and Anthony Mundine go toe to toe on Friday night.
We take a look at the fight and give our betting tips below.
Jeff Horn vs Anthony Mundine Betting Tips
At 43 years of age, Mundine comes into the fight as the rank underdog and rightfully so. As good as ‘The Man’ might have been over a long and infamous career, he is fighting a 30-year-old who just five months ago was stepping into the ring with arguably the best pound for pound boxer in the world.
While Horn was comfortably beaten in the fight against WBO Welterweight Champion Terrance Crawford, the fight did prove how incredibly tough the former school teacher is. Horn took an absolute beating for nine rounds before the ref stopped the fight that night, and if Crawford struggled to knock Horn out at his peak, there is no way that Mundine will at 43 years of age.
Horn will likely also have some extra power on Friday night than he has in his last few fights. He failed to make the 66.7kg welterweight limit in his fight against Crawford but will have no such issues when he weighs in this week, as Horn can pack on up to 71kg for the fight.
On the contrary, Mundine will likely have to cut weight drastically to make the 71kg limit. His last fight, a January matchup against Tommy Browne, was at the middleweight limit of 72.57kg but he has fought at up to 80kg in the past. The weight cut and the loss of power shouldn’t worry Mundine too much, however, as his game is largely defensive similar to that of champion featherweight Floyd Mayweather.
Many experts have predicted the fight to end in a knockout or TKO to Horn, however, Mundine has the advantage of having fought much bigger men and much harder hitters than Horn in the past. His defence is still pretty solid and while he lacks knockout power of his own, he has only been knocked out three times over his 56-fight career. This fight should go the distance.
Fight to go the distance
$1.95
We give Horn the advantage in pure boxing skill and over the course of 12 rounds he should be able to land enough scoring shots on Mundine to take the fight. Mundine will need to play an extremely defensive game, keep his distance and choose his spots carefully to try to land scoring shots here. We think it will be more competitive than most think, but Horn should earn the chocolates by decision.
Horn to win via decision
$2.50
