Jeff Horn is the real ‘Rocky’: the day after that punch

Jeff Horn is again in the world title picture after somehow surviving a fight many rated one of the best in Australian boxing.

You should have seen the other guy: boxer Jeff Horn the day after defeating Michael Zerafa in Brisbane. Picture: Glenn Hunt

The Cinderella Man is back. Jeff Horn, the fighting schoolteacher, is again in the world title picture after somehow surviving a bloody fight that many rated one of the best in Australian boxing.

This was Rocky for real.

Horn came so close to defeat in the penultimate round that his trainer had a white towel in hand, ready to throw it in. Somehow he fought back to win … and his ­career is alive again.

Maybe Tim Tszyu, son of legendary world champion Kost­ya Tszyu, will step up to the plate.

Perhaps Horn will hunt the cash and cachet that comes with fighting in Las Vegas or New York.

The good news for the Horn camp is they have options again, thanks to another memorable night at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre.

This was the archetypal Horn performance, as he put himself squarely in the firing line in ­pursuit of revenge against Mich­ael Zerafa. He absorbed the sort of punishment that would end most fighters, his face a bloodied and battered mess as the fight entered the latter rounds.

He was barely hanging on in the ninth round, blood seeping from a gaping wound above his left eye. His chest was blotted in red like a Pro Hart painting.

Trainer Glenn Rushton, white towel in hand, was being encoura­ged to throw it into the ring by one of Horn’s cornermen.

Horn had capitulated under a flurry of punches against Zerafa in the very same round four months earlier but fortune smiled on the brave on Wednesday night.

Referee John Cauci was so concerned that he temporarily halted the fight to allow the ringside doctor to inspect the cut.

Ask Zerafa’s camp, and they will tell you that was the moment that changed the fight, buying Horn space and time to catch a second wind.

When the fight resumed, Horn landed a right hand that sat Zerafa on his backside as the pair engage­d in one of the most exciting rounds of the year.

“I hate that ninth round,” Horn would say later. “That is what I have been saying. I think I know it is round nine and I have that ­voodoo. I don’t like it.

“I knew I had to go back to old-school ways. I knew I needed the fitness. I got beaten by tiredness (four months ago).”

It is hard to remember a more resilient Australian fighter than Horn, who has a remarkable ­capacity to take a beating, stay on his feet and fight back.

He did it against the legendary Manny Pacquiao two years ago, and he did it again on Wednesday.

Critics would suggest he is puttin­g himself in danger by absorbi­ng too many blows, but Horn begs to differ.

Suddenly, his career is back on track. World title fights are on the radar. So is Tszyu.

“Tim Tszyu has a big name in boxing,” Horn said. “He is having some impressive wins. He is a ­talent coming through. He is a possible fight in the future.”