Jeff Horn Steals Title From Pacquiao in Controversial Decision

Chances are if you are not invested in the world of boxing, you have never even heard the name “Jeff Horn” in your life, and even if you are, he was so unknown that before the announcement of the fight that took place this evening, you where probably in a similar boat. However, as the party down under gets going in Australia and Americans wake up to check their twitter feeds, the new sensation of Jeff “The Hornet” Horn will be in the conversation of many.

The fight itself had many paroles to the film “Rocky”. A relatively unknown, hard working fighter takes on a true legend. The fight is brutal and bloody, with many giving no hope to the young kid going up against the veteran, yet in the end, while he is bested by the skill of the more experienced, he goes the distance, hangs tough, and shows true heart. Where Stallone’s Oscar winning film and Horn vs. Pacquiao differ is in their ending. The new kid won, defeating the veteran and taking the belt, by unanimous vote. Judges Waleska Roland, Chirs Flores, and Ramon Cerdan all voted in favor of Horn, who threw 625 punches, only landing 92 against Pacquiao’s impressive 573 punches thrown with 182 landing. That means that Pacquiao’s landed punch percentage more then doubled Horn’s, with 32% compared to 15%. While Horn’s toughness and power was astonishing, mainly due to the underwhelming pre-conceived notations many had of him before the fight began, Pacquiao still performed far better. Manny had an incredibly amazing ninth round, where he pushed Horn to the edge, delivering hard, devastating left hooks that left Horn in such bad shape that referee Mark Nelson almost canceled the fight before being begged by Horn’s corner to continue.

As a stronger, but slower fighter, Horn came in tough during the early rounds, extremely aggressive, however Pacquiao stayed level headed, even with the accidental head butts caused by Horn’s aggressive and dangerous style. His fighting was plainly superior and it showed all evening.

The fact that Horn, a teacher from Melbourne, Australia. who’s victories all came against unknowns, even held on is impressive, but his victory less so. At the end of fight, Pacquiao seemed like the clear cut winner, but as the announcer said the words “The New Champion”, revealing Horn to be the victor, he looked as shocked and surprised as all of us watching while his corner surrounded him and 55,000 individuals in Suncorp Stadium went crazy. As Teddy Atlas said in an emotional rant after the decision was made, “They gave a win, a huge win, to Horn, for trying hard. You’re not supposed to get it for trying hard, you’re supposed to get it for winning!” The decision rocked the sports community, as Steven A. Smith went on a grueling rampage during SportsCenter following the fight and the likes of high profile personalities like Aaron Rodgers tweeted out “117-111 on one card??? What fight was that judge watching. Bradley jinx again. #UFC #” and “Boxing is a joke, and it proves it again tonight. Are you kidding me with those scorecards #joke #rigged”.

The sad thing about the fight is that if Pacquiao won, like he fairly should’ve, the spotlight would still be on Horn’s impressive show of strength and determination to go ten rounds, especially after the brutal beating he received from Pacquiao in the ninth. Instead, while he is a champion, the win will always have an asterisk next to it in the community’s eyes and his victory is surrounded in questions and doubts.

Written by Connor Hoehn, @UndraftedPunter