“Robbery!” cried the masses.
Jeff Horn was not given much of a chance against Manny Pacquiao last week but the former schoolteacher shocked the world by ripping the WBO welterweight title away from ‘Pac-Man’ in his native Australia.
The boxing community was outraged, citing the location of the bout as the only reason for Horn’s unanimous decision victory over the only boxer in history to win world titles in eight different weight classes.
The stats suggested that Pacquiao was the dominant fighter in the tilt but overall statistics matter little because fights are not judged on the number of punches landed over 36 minutes. They’re judged on a 10-point must system.
Final Punch Stats: Jeff Horn def. Manny Pacquiao by Unan. Dec. Pacquiao out landed Horn, 182-92. Horn landed just 15% of his total punches. pic.twitter.com/dImHXkowyO
— CompuBox (@CompuBox) July 2, 2017
Regardless, few fighters were in agreement with what seemed, to the untrained eye, a routine victory for the Filipino fighter.
I hate when that happens I've watched pac man for most of my boxing memory's and he goes to the lions den gets robbed #gutted
— billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) July 2, 2017
Wow! PAC loses by UD? One judge had it 117-111? 😳 Wasn't the fight that I saw!
— Lennox Lewis, CBE, CM (@LennoxLewis) July 2, 2017
Congrats to my friend @mannypacquiao performance wow horrible decision #robbery
— Ray Beltran (@Beltranboxing) July 2, 2017
In light of the reaction to the bout, which was scored 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 on the scorecards of the judges in charge, the World Boxing Organisation made the ultimate decision to rescore the contest with fresh sets of eyes.
Five independent judges sat down and rewatched the fight without commentary and, rather surprisingly, they scored it exactly the same as the two judges who were in agreement with one another on July 2.
“The Jeff Horn vs. Manny Pacquiao bout results were controversial causing disputes amongst fans. For this reason, transparency is so important,” a WBO statement read.
#PacquiaoHorn Official Scores Cards pic.twitter.com/FEupWB8Xy1
— FightNights.com (@boxing) July 2, 2017
“The WBO does not have power to reverse the Judges decision based on discretion as it can only be revoked when fraud or a violation of Law has occurred, which is not relevant in this case.
“Based on this, five anonymous, competent Judges from different countries were asked to watch the bout without sound.
“From the results, it can be established that Pacquiao won 5 rounds while Horn won 7 rounds.”
The outcome of the rescoring process matches the 115-113 tallies registered by judges Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan on the night itself.
What’s next for both Horn and Pacquiao, at this moment in time, remains unclear.
The victory opened innumerable doors for the former while the latter has admitted that he’s considering hanging up his gloves for good.
