Gary Corcoran of the UK is a big underdog going into next week’s (December 13) challenge of WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn. Horn, who shocked the world by beating Manny Pacquiao to take the belt in July, has vowed to prevent the once-beaten Corcoran from scoring a tremendous upset of his own when the two meet in Brisbane.
But Corcoran caused something of a sensation at the final presser before the fight, firstly by calling Horn a dirty fighter, one who deliberately used his head in the Pacquiao fight, and then by stating how, if he is butted intentionally during Wednesday’s fight, he will respond by biting the unbeaten champion.
“I won’t headbutt Jeff back – I’ll bite him,” Corcoran said as quoted by The Courier Mail.
Naturally Horn is angered over these harsh words, but “The Hornet” has put it down to nerves on the part of his challenger.
“I’ve been training to knock him out so I’ll just make it quicker if he tries to bite me,” Horn told The Courier Mail. “He reckons I’m a rough fighter but this is boxing not a tickling contest. I fight a rough, up-close kind of style and I hope Gary’s ready for it. It sounds to me like he’s starting to panic if he’s talking about biting me.”
Hopefully – and it really does go without saying – Cororan will not go through with his threat, no matter how rough and tough the fight gets. Horn, who insists he is a clean fighter and that he did not in any way deliberately butt Manny Pacquiao, would simply win by DQ if Corcoran were to bite him.
We have of course seen fighters use their teeth before in big fights; Mike Tyson most famously, but no way can this kind of behaviour ever be condoned. Even the verbal threat of biting could be enough for a fighter to land himself in hot water.
Let’s hope we get a good, clean and entertaining fight next week.
