Sunday afternoon in Brisbane, Australia, Jeff Horn upset Manny Pacquiao to win the WBO World welterweight title?
Sunday afternoon at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs), the undefeated Kid from Down Under, upset Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs), the Old Master from General Santos City, Cotabato del Sur, Philippines, to win the WBO World welterweight title.
The controversial final scores after 12 rounds were 117-111 and 115-113 twice, all for the Aussie underdog.
In front of 55,000 rabid fans, Horn, fighting out of the blue corner in black trunks with orange trim, was the busier fighter. At the age of 29, nine years younger than the champion, Horn had advantages coming in that proved difficult to overcome.
But Pacquiao, fighting out of the red corner in red and blue trunks, has forgotten more about boxing than Horn will ever know. He has been fighting for 22 years to Horn?s four and the seasoning was obvious. What was also obvious is that Pacquiao has slid.
Both fighters drew blood from accidental headbutts. Horn was bleeding from above the right eye. Manny was bleeding from a scalp wound and a cut above his left eye.
Pacquiao had Horn out on his feet in round nine, which was a 10-8 round for Manny. At the end of the round the referee, Mark Nelson, told Horn, ?I?m here to protect you. You?ve got to show me something.?
Horn showed that he wasn?t going down without a fight. He might not have won the last three rounds, or the fight for that matter, but he was the aggressor and apparently did enough, according to the judges, to win the fight by an easy margin.
But there is effective aggression and ineffective aggression and Horn for the most part displayed the latter.
Manny showed lots of class in accepting the decision. ?I am professional,? he said. ?I respect the judges. He survived that round.?
Pacquiao wants a rematch, a clause stipulated in the original contract, and it?s a fight he deserves if he wants it.
But with Sunday?s loss to Jeff Horn, Pacquiao is in the twilight of his career and the big money rematch with Floyd Mayweather looks less desirable than ever.
If a fight with Floyd is a fight Manny will lose, which is a real possibility, it?s a fight his fans need not endure.
