Who’s to blame for Pacquiao’s loss to Horn?

The exciting July 1st, 2017 WBO Welterweight Title fight between Jeff “The Hornet” Horn and Manny “Pacman” Pacquaio will be long remembered.

Unlike other sports with their uncompromising rules, boxing rules vary from venue to venue, state to state, country to country. A savvy boxer knows to protect himself or herself at all times. They take nothing for granted which includes being wary of catching a cold or worse yet dealing with three judges and one referee who may or may not be looking to give you a fair shake.

Saturday’s unanimous decision victory by Jeff Horn has been denounced by a great many people. Reporting on the event, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Teddy Atlas were the most vociferous of the critics and wasted little time airing their displeasure especially concerning the positive 117-111 score for Jeff Horn by Judge Waleska Roldan .

From these after fight photos, you can plainly see who got the worst of their fight?

Apologists stated, “No doubt the three judges were swayed by Manny Pacquiao’s bloody face.” That impressional bloody face came to be, not by one, but two headbutts from the excitable, head first, Mr. Horn who also benefitted big time from hitting Pacquiao on the back of his head and neck. Horn also stepped on Pacquiao’s foot, landed more than a few late hits, shoved Pacquiao against the ropes, went round after round using headlocks plus pushed Pacquiao’s head down, plus he’d often use his arm rather than his fist to strike Pacquiao. For a fight that went the entire 12 rounds and featured so many infractions, you’d expect the referee, Mark Nelson, would have issued more than just one warning, and if he did issue repeated warnings wouldn’t they have resulted in point deductions? With such repeated roughhousing, you almost expected Pacquaio to have his legs kicked out from underneath him. Without the issuance of warnings, the multiple infractions went unchecked. Perhaps there’s a gentleman’s agreement in the Land Down Under that these things are considered so trivial that there’s no need to make a fuss.

The Marcus of Queensberry Rules state the three judges at ringside are to score the bout and assign the most points to that boxer who connects on the most punches and demonstrates he has the best defense, which would mean the winning boxer would be the one landing more blows and getting hit less. In Saturday’s contest, Pacquiao landed 182 punches (123 were considered power punches) while his opponent Horn landed a total of just 92 punches, (73 of which were deemed power punches). 

All three judges gave Horn, the hometown fighter, a decision victory. Judges Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan both had it 115-113 for Horn and Waleska Roldan had it a blowout, scoring it 117-111 for Horn. Roldan somehow had Pacquiao losing every round except for the 3rd, 8th, and 9th. In their Battle of Brisbane, Manny Pacquiao out-landed Jeff Horn in 11 of the 12 rounds and out-landed Horn in total punches, 182-92. At the close of round nine, the referee nearly called for a stoppage of the fight when Horn got all wobbly and appeared defenseless for a long stretch.The Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn WBO Welterweight Title fight was no doubt, an exciting, fun fight to watch. A fight in which Horn, the underdog, exceeded expectations against one of the greats in boxing. But there’s a difference between performing better than expected and actually winning rounds to win the fight.

Speaking immediately after the bout, Horn threw out the challenge to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and claimed it would be a dream come true to take his career to “Sin City. This is just having a bit of a dig overseas to Floyd Mayweather, but this is no joke,” said Horn, as he hoisted a cane and seemingly joked about Mayweather being 11 years his senior. “Which one does he want, the walking stick or the gloves? Come have a real fight.” Mayweather, who is undefeated with a 49-0-0 record, has a fight of his own versus Mixed Martial Artist turned boxer Conor McGregor on August 26 in Las Vegas.

The new WBO welterweight world champ Jeff Horn (left) will have to make certain that nasty cut over his right eye heals properly. In the rematch, you know the lefty will make that area one of his prime targets. Plus, Horn should plan to spend the better part of the next three months sparring with southpaws.

Pre-fight Manny Pacquiao (58-7-2, 39 KOs) was the heavy favorite heading into this World Boxing Organization welterweight title defense against Australia’s Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs), but the local guy somehow became a national hero with his stunning upset in front of the boisterous crowd at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane of close to 51,000 people.

Celebrity opinions: Former Olympian, Claressa Shields: “Good night, Horn landed 15% (of the punches he threw) and Pacquiao landed up to 32%, and no one is ok with the decision. He didn’t deserve the win.”

Former Olympian Jamel Herring: “Man, oh man. PLEASE don’t give McGregor hope! These judges ain’t playing around!”

Devon Alexander: “Wow what a decision!! Wtf!

Once again, we heard Teddy Atlas lash out: “Boxing is a corrupt sport.”

Lennox Lewis: “This is what’s wrong with boxing,” tweeted the former undisputed world heavyweight champ. Horn was very game but I’m hard pressed to see how he could have won that fight by any stretch!”

Justin Fortune, who once fought Lennox Lewis and has been with Pacquiao since 2002, said Horn had been allowed to get away with a host of illegal tactics as he brawled his way to victory. “That’s what you get down here,” he said of the tactics. “You’d never get away with that anywhere else in the world. You’d be penalized points. I don’t have a problem with dirty fighting and that’s what it was. You do what you have to do to win.”

The 38-year-old Pacquiao said he would welcome a rematch against the Australian former schoolteacher (of course a rematch had already been written into their contract). “We thought we won this fight.”

Baseball and NFL legend Deion Sanders: “@mannypacquiao was robbed! I’m really upset right now. Really. This is ignorant. God bless u Manny and all u do for your country. #Truth.”

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers on Twitter: “Boxing is a joke, and it proves it again tonight. Are you kidding me with those scorecards? #joke #rigged,” 117-111 on one card??? What fight was that judge watching? Bradley jinx again.”

Dave Barabas: “This is why boxing is dying. Manny Pacquiao straight dominated that fight. Talk about a robbery on live television.

Junior Galette: “2nd time I’ve seen Manny Pacquiao get robbed.”

Stuart Kilpatrick: “Can’t find many reports suggesting anything other than Pacquiao won. The vast majority say Horn needed KO in the last round. Have to agree.

The only way Manny Pacquiao could have lost is tripping going to the ring. You can make as many excuses as you’d like – it was a shitty referee, shitty judging. But that’s boxing.”

Jian Genovana: “We live in a generation where boxing is no longer a sport but a business. I’m not surprised.”