"It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."
It's a great quote from Rocky but one that doesn't really lend itself to longevity in the boxing ring and Jack McInnes found that out the hard way as he became the third victim of Australian rugby star Quade Cooper.
Cooper stepped inside the squared circle for the third time as a boxing pro on Friday, when he was tasked with meeting an opponent who looked slightly out of place to more than a handful of perplexed fight fans.
When they weighed in on Thursday, there was a noticeable difference in physiques between the two fighters and it appeared that Cooper had done a better job of peaking at the right time than his 22-year-old foe.
https://twitter.com/GAGR/status/827056022028054530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
McInnes' camp said all the right things as they assured us that their fighter had considerably more experience than his 0-2 boxing record would lead you to believe.
We were told that McInnes had competed 55 times in MMA and Muay Thai so maybe we shouldn't have jumped to conclusions at the sight of his - and we're being polite here - softer build.
Or maybe we were on the money as he was clearly out of his depth against Cooper, who recorded his third victory by stoppage.
McInnes' strategy was to control the centre of the ring and continue plodding forward in the hope that Cooper would not be able to deal with the pressure.
It did not work and Cooper picked him apart before, towards the end of the second round, the Queensland Reds star cornered McInnes and teed away, forcing him to drop to his knees.
Below is the full fight, if you feel like you want to put yourself through what is essentially an exhibition from Cooper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdSepcqDeSo&t=333s
It turns out the Homer Simpson tactic simply doesn't work in modern boxing.
Who knew?
