Jeff Horn shocks Manny Pacquiao to capture welterweight title.

 

 

Manny Pacquiao was the heavy favorite to retain his welterweight world title against unknown Jeff Horn in what most viewed as an easy fight, and Pacquiao sure looked like he had done just that when the final bell rang to end the action-packed brawl.

Pacquiao had rocked Horn, bloodied him and nearly stopped him a violently one-sided ninth round. But then the judges' scorecards were read, and Pacquiao was the victim of a hugely controversial decision, as Horn was awarded a stunning unanimous decision -- a hometown decision, many will call it -- before some 55,000 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Australia).

Judge Waleska Roldan had it 117-111, and judges Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan both had it 115-113 for Horn. ESPN.com scored it 117-111 for Pacquiao, and ESPN ringside analyst Teddy Atlas also had it for Pacquiao, 116-111.

Pacquiao, the Filipino legend and boxing's only eight-division world champion, has been here before, losing a split decision and a welterweight world title to Timothy Bradley Jr. in 2012 in one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history.

 Like he was after that loss -- which he avenged twice -- Pacquiao was gracious after his bout with Horn.

"That's the decision of the judges. I respect that," Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao holds the contractual right to a rematch, and he said he would exercise it.

"Absolutely, yes," Pacquiao said of fighting Horn again in Australia. "We have a rematch clause, so no problem".

The fight, which aired live on ESPN, was Pacquiao's first non-payper view fight since 2005 and supposed to be a showcase. That Horn was still standing at the end of the rough, tough fight was a surprise, but Pacquiao looked to be the clear winner until his belt was handed to Horn, a 29-year-old former Olympian and former school teacher with a very thin ring resume.

Asked how he managed to win, he struggled for words at first.

" I don't know. I guess with the crowd behind me and all the support," said Horn, who was Pacquiao's mandatory challenger.

"I've just believed since i was young that i could do this. There's lots of thoughts going through  my mind.

I managed to get the decision. It was close".

Horn seemed as shocked as anyone that he got the decision, if body language means anything, but he said he thought he won what will go down as the biggest fight in Australian history.

"I thought i was coming forward more and landing the cleaner blows" Horn said. "That's just my opinion".

It didn't appear to be  all that close, however, even though the actions far exceeded the modest expectations going into gthe fight. Pacquiao also dominated the Compubox punch statistics, getting credit for landing 182 of 573 blows (32 percent), while Horn landed 92 of 625 (15 percent). Pacquiao also landed more punches in 11 of 12 rounds, according to CompuBox.