Rising Australian boxing star Jeff Horn has scored the biggest win of his career, overcoming American veteran Randall Bailey on Wednesday night in Brisbane.
Horn overcame some early nerves in front of a hometown crowd to seal his 14th career win, a technical knock out after seven rounds, at a sold-out Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre.
It was a risky match-up for world No.6 welterweight Horn against three-time world champion Bailey, considered one of the sport's hardest punchers with a formidable 85 per cent knockout rate.
But the 28-year-old schoolteacher outworked and outboxed his decorated opponent, who elected not to come back for the eighth round after being put through the wringer by the man dubbed Australian boxing's next big thing.
It is the perfect first step on a path plotted by Horn's promoters Duco Events, who plan to turn him into a household name with a series of high-profile fights at home and set up a world title shot in the next 18 months.
The closest Horn came to joining Bailey's long list of KO victims was in the third round, when a thunderous right slipped through his defences and left the crowd stunned.
Horn's gloves touched the mat but he wobbled back to his feet for the eight-count and eventually shook off the hit.
That moment might have shaken the 41-year-old Bailey, who visibly tired as the bout wore on before copping his first stoppage defeat since 2009.
The fight was originally scheduled for earlier in the year but had to be pushed back when Horn suffered a collapsed larynx in a freak training accident.
He went into the clash with a metal pipe inserted in his throat but it never troubled him against Bailey.
Horn joked that he should start giving himself an uppercut or two in the dressing room before he goes out for a fight, seeing as he only seems to wake up after being tagged.
"(Bailey) was a tough guy," Horn said.
"I hit him with some good shots and he kept taking them.
"But he got me a couple at the start - I need to be more careful. Sometimes I do that."
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