Nearly toppling a legend, on ESPN no less, could?ve set him up for life, rather than setting him up for one big score and a brutal fall from grace?
Jeff Horn might?ve been better off with a loss last Saturday night against Manny Pacquiao.
With a loss for ?The Hornet,? the story would?ve been his tough, gritty performance and the miracle of an unheralded, unknown battler nearly upsetting a legend on live TV. The media would?ve gushed over the story of a hometown hero defying all odds and taking a future Hall of Famer deep into bloody battle.
Instead, the lead story after Saturday night was a screw job hometown decision. Horn?s Rocky Balboa-like performance was lost amid the buzz of outrage and, even among those giving him his proper credit for his against-all-odds effort, the take-away was the perception that Pacquiao had been cheated.
A loss wouldn?t have taken anything away from Horn and, as a matter of fact, it would?ve given him career options that are no longer possible now that he?s a world champ and tied to a Pacquiao rematch (or two).
With that WBO welterweight belt around his waist, along with the perception that he?s a soft touch, Horn is a walking target. Even if he doesn?t get set up for a fall in a Pacquiao rematch, there will be too much money out there to resist making him somebody?s easy title win. If Pacquiao isn?t given first crack at making him a zero defense champ, Horn co-promoter Bob Arum will surely guide fellow Top Rank fighters Terence Crawford or Timothy Bradley towards that paper title win in front of another 55,000 in Brisbane. Meanwhile, across the great boxing business divide, all of Al Haymon?s welterweight crew?from Errol Spence and Keith Thurman to Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter?will be rattling cages to get their hands on the guy who took Manny?s belt for a perceived low risk-high reward bout. Spence, as a matter of fact, has already called Horn out.
If Horn had not been given the controversial unanimous decision win, he could?ve made some solid money as the hometown hero against a much lesser level of opposition over a much longer period of time. Nearly toppling a legend, on ESPN no less, could?ve set him up for life, rather than setting him up for one big score and a brutal fall from grace. Even Sylvester Stallone, when writing the screenplay for Rocky, had the good sense to have the plucky hero lose in the main event so as to facilitate a sequel.
And while dealing with limited career choices, Horn will now not only have to deal with the media?s fixation on the controversial nature of his victory, but also with the raging tidal wave that is Manny Pacquiao fandom. A screw job against Manny is sure to stir up the hornet?s nest (no pun intended) of Pacland and flood Horn and his entire team (and family) with nothing but online nastiness for the rest of their days.
For those who think that angry Pacland trolls are of little concern in the grand scheme of things, just ask Timothy Bradley, who was similarly the recipient of a gift win over Pacquiao back in 2012.
The persistent nastiness brought on by scores of rabid Pacquiao fans with nothing better to do than lash out at the fighter, brought misery to Bradley and nearly pushed him into a deep depression.
?Did I consider suicide? Hell, yeah,? Bradley told the UK?s Daily Mail. ?I would be sitting in bed with my wife thinking about what people were saying and writing about me and I was thinking ?not only I don?t want to box anymore?I don?t even want to live anymore. This sucks. It?s not worth it?.?
Actually, the attacks on Horn have already begun, with Horn and his pregnant wife being targeted by angry Pacquiao fans eager to exact some sort of revenge for the ?crime? against their hero. If history plays out true to form, the nastiness will get worse.
There?s a chance, however, that Horn may be somewhat spared from the Pacland onslaught. Pacquiao is not the star he once was and his following isn?t the cult-like mob it used to be. The general consensus opinion is that Pacquiao was on his way out the door, anyway. Unlike in the 2012 fiasco with Bradley, there?s no feeling this time around that this loss is ruining Manny?s plans for big things in the future. Also, Horn?s apparent plans to remain at home in Australia will insulate him somewhat from abuse.
But, still, even if all of the abuse is considerably less than what Bradley got, how do you not feel the slings and arrows of an angry and/or dismissive worldwide online mob?
Combine the internet piranha attacks with a career course that is now aimed at either turning him into a manufactured rival for Manny Pacquiao or a paid fall guy and it?s clear to see that Horn?s biggest night could easily be a curse disguised as a blessing.
Of course, Horn could always flip the script and assert his legitimacy as a world titlist. Every fighter, to varying degrees, has a fighting chance of doing that. But the real world isn?t a Rocky movie. Rarely is the plucky, tough, under-skilled, underdog treated as anything other than a more-valuable-than-before patsy to be fed to more reliable money fighters.
