Manny Pacquiao’s controversial upset loss to Jeff Horn over the weekend might have been a letdown, but there’s one upside to it, one boxing analyst believes.
“A rematch will definitely end up as a lucrative project for Manny and the team. Kung ano’ng kinita dito, possibly baka madoble pa sa rematch,” Dennis Principe said in an interview with ABS-CBN News on Wednesday.
Principe said that nobody knew Horn before the “Battle of Brisbane” but, after securing a unanimous-decision victory and the world welterweight strap, Horn became known as “the last man who beat Pacquiao.”
Pacquiao was guaranteed $10 million for the bout, while Horn was assured of $500,000.
“Dati kasi Manny Pacquiao lang pinag-uusapan, who’s Jeff Horn? Now sa rematch, lumaki ang selling factor ni Horn, lumaki ang bentahe,” Principe said.
Most people will be interested to see if Pacquiao will be able to avenge the defeat, described by Principe as a “robbery.”
“For me tabla lang talaga ang pwedeng ipanalo ni Horn, but to give Jeff Horn the victory is daylight robbery,” he said.
But Principe has reservations about Pacquiao exercising the rematch clause with Horn, saying Pacquiao wasn’t the Manny of old that most fans have been accustomed with.
“I have strong doubts about his health and future,” Principe said. “He was slow, his combinations are few and far in between. What we saw was not the old Manny Pacquiao. What we saw was an old Manny Pacquiao.”
The analyst said Pacquiao’s volume punches seemed to have gone down.
“Kung dati iyong 5-punch combination was easy for him, ngayon parang tatlo lang,” he said.
“It could be that Jeff Horn was effective with his bullying tactics or age is starting to become a factor kay Manny Pacquiao.”
