There was no tiger in his bathroom but a bruised and battered Jeff Horn woke up with one hell of a hangover in Las Vegas.
The former schoolteacher had been living a fairytale for the last 12 months but was jolted back to reality in ruthless fashion by Terence Crawford, who ripped the WBO welterweight championship from his grasp with a dominant display at the MGM Grand.
Humbled on the big stage the night before, Horn put on a brave front on a gloomy Monday morning (AEST) as he and his family began picking up the pieces.
The 30-year-old and his management have some big questions to ponder as they review what went wrong, and where they go next.
"I'm a bit frustrated and disappointed," Horn told reporters, his face swollen and purple after eating a barrage of Crawford's sharp punches.
"It is what it is. I've just got to rebuild from here.
"I'm not happy, but I'm happy it's all over at least and I'm not feeling too bad. I've felt worse after fights before."
Horn will have won some of his US critics over simply by absorbing punishment for so long from arguably the world's top pound-for-pound fighter.
But the lop-sided nature of the fight would have cemented the opinions of others who believe Horn was never a legitimate champion in the first place.
It's left Horn, who now has a 18-1-1 professional record, with a sense of unfinished business in America.
"I definitely don't want to leave here, losing a fight and then running," he said.
"I still feel like I've got plenty more to prove."
Who, where and when his next bout will take place is all to be determined.
Horn's contract with Top Rank is now up, meaning his promoter Dean Lonergan is free to explore options around the world.
It will be a difficult task trying to line up an opponent who is beatable enough to boost Horn's dented confidence, but good enough to keep him in the world title mix.
But Lonergan said he had no regrets about Horn's first Vegas experience.
"This is the reason we're in this business," he said.
"Let's not forget, two years ago we were fighting in local halls in Brisbane and Auckland ... (now we're) fighting in Las Vegas and Jeff Horn's name is on the map."
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