There would be no miracle this time. Jeff Horn has lost his WBO welterweight belt after a savage assault from Terence Crawford, with the referee waving off the fight with 27 seconds remaining in the ninth round.

Horn was well behind on points and was outclassed by the brilliant Crawford, who has made a superb start to his invasion of the welterweight ranks. Who can stop him?

He was able to avoid Horn all night and had won every round until that point according to the judges. Horn struggled in the eighth round and his corner must have been thinking about throwing in the towel, although his trainer Glenn Rushton later said they wanted the fight to go longer.

The courageous Horn battled on, only for Crawford to pick him to pieces and end the night in a barrage of punches. Horn had been down earlier in that round and was given a standing count and never really recovered.

Referee Robert Byrd had told Horn he needed to show something in the ninth, exactly the same as the Manny Pacquiao fight. But this time Horn had nothing in reserve and was blasted out with expert precision.