By Jim Dower: #1 WBO Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) won a highly controversial 12 round unanimous decision victory over WBO welterweight champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) on Saturday night in a fight televised on ESPN Boxing at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
The final judges’ scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113. Boxing News 24 scored the fight 7 rounds to 5 in favor of Pacquiao. It was a close fight, but Horn appeared to lose. However, Horn was the home fighter, so it’s customary for the hometown guy to win a decision. That’s why Pacquiao should have gone for the knockout when he had Horn ready to be knocked out in the 9th.
Horn was on the verge of being knocked out in the 9th round. It was a totally one-sided round. Pacquiao was mauled all night by Horn, who was coming forward head first the entire fight like a Billy Goat. Horn really roughed Pacquiao up tonight in putting him in a lot of headlocks, and hitting him while he was incapacitated.
Horn also roughed Pacquiao up against the ropes frequently. In the clinches, Horn would often hit Pacquiao with shots. Pacquiao looked like he wasn’t ready for such a rough fight. He never adjusted to the physical style of fighting that Horn was bringing to him.
Horn, 29, looked like a junior middleweight inside the ring tonight. The 5’9” Horn looked huge tonight. He appeared to be in the weight range of 170 pounds in my opinion. The weight difference seemed to help Horn, who appeared to be at least 15 pounds heavier than Pacquiao. Horn’s success had a lot to do with his size. Of course, Horn’s aggressiveness definitely helped him as well.
Pacquiao, 38, was gracious after the fight, saying that he’ll fight Horn in a rematch.
“That’s part of the game,” said Pacquiao after the fight about the scoring. “That’s the decision of the judges I respect the judges. He survived that round,” said Pacquiao talking about Horn being hurt in round 9.”
When asked if he’d be willing to fight Horn again, Pacquiao said, “Absolutely, yes.”
Horn was cut over his right eye in round 2. The cut was worsened as the fight wore on.
In round 9, Pacquiao had Horn on the verge of being stopped after nailing him with a high number of left hands to the head. Horn looked exhausted and hurt after the round ended. In between the 9th and 10h rounds, the referee Mark Nelson warned Horn that he would stop the fight in the next round if Horn didn’t show him anything.
This was Horn’s lottery tonight, as he now is going to make a ton of money in the rematch with Pacquiao. Moreover, Horn will likely get a lot of endorsement deals in his native Australia. It’s a good potentially for Pacquiao as well, because he gets a second fight against Horn, and he already proved that he’s a better fighter than him. The judges didn’t feel that way, but a lot of boxing fans feel that Pacquiao won the fight.
Pacquiao had Horn ready to be knocked out in the 9th round if he’d been able to hit him with a few more shots. Paquiao made a mistake is by not going after Horn in the 10th round. Pacquiao
Horn would have problems against the younger welterweights like Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. Those fighters like to fight the way that Horn did tonight. If Top Rank lets Horn fight those guys, I see him losing badly.