Heading into Sunday’s showcase, Manny Pacquiao was the consensus favorite, with the only question being whether he could score his first stoppage since 2009. His opponent Jeff Horn, on the other hand, has never been truly tested in the professional level.
After 12 grueling rounds, judges Waleska Roldan, Chris Flores, and Ramon Cedran did not see the close bout in favor of Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38KOs), as they scored the fight 111-117, 113-115, and 113-115, giving Horn (17-0-1, 11KOs) the WBO World Welterweight Championship, in front of 55,000 people at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday afternoon.
“That’s the decision of the judges,” Pacquiao said about what some might say a hometown decision. “I respect that.”
This loss is Pacquiao’s seventh in his career, having lost two of his last four fights — all by unanimous decision.
The 38-year-old Filipino southpaw peppered the 29-year-old Australian for the majority of the bout, including a lambasting in the ninth round that almost called a stop to the fight as Horn was bleeding badly. Horn’s corner needed to plead with referee Mark Nelson to continue the bout.
Though the challenger came out strong in the opening round, landing a couple of clean shots, it was quickly negated by Pacquiao in the second round. The Filipino landed two solid straights right to the prone jaw of Horn but the latter was able to stay on his feet.
By the third round, Pacquiao had already bloodied Horn, opening a cut over the former teacher’s right eye. The blood caused Horn to clinch to stop Pacquiao’s combinations.
Pacquiao, the world’s only eight-division world champion, was hit by two accidental headbutts during the fight. The first one occurred in the sixth round, cutting a part of his scalp, while the second cut happened a round later resulting in another cut.
“It affected me,” Pacquiao remarked about the two accidental headbutts. “A lot of blood came out of my head.”
The sight of blood pouring down his forehead only pushed Pacquiao. During the ninth round, Pacquiao, who had been content to land single punches prior, unleashed his patented combinations that came from all angles. Horn’s heart was tested, as he did not go down during that flurry.
“I tried to knock him out in the ninth round but he survived,” Pacquiao recalled. “[But] in the ninth round, I thought I am going to win the fight.”
Wanting to close out the show with a bang, Pacquiao went for the fences in the final round. Horn was more than willing to slug it out as an epic fist fight closed out the show.
According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 182 power shots on his opponent, while Horn connected on just 92. The electronic program also registered 11 round wins for Pacquiao.
Still, the proud son of General Santos is looking to exercise his rematch clause.
“We have a rematch clause, so no problem,” he furthered.
Pacquiao reportedly will take home at least $10 million from the fight.
