[hdvideo id=1153 ratingscontrol=on views=on title=on]

July 02, 2017 Manny Pacquiao vs Jeff Horn at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
for the WBO World welterweight title

Manny Pacquiao loses world title to Jeff Horn

Australian boxer Jeff Horn on Sunday afternoon shocked the world by coming ahead of Manny Pacquiao in their world title welterweight bout. The 29 year old survived a near knockout in the ninth round and proceeded to garner a controversial upset victory.

The welterweight fight took place in front of a Brisbane audience at the Suncorp Stadium. The presence of many Australian fans may have egged on the homeboy and inspired him to victory.

Horn’s win was deemed controversial given how even the two sides appeared to be at the end. Away from the judges’ score of 115-113, 115-113, and 117-111 most boxing pundits who watched scored the match at a tie or in Pacquiao’s favor.

Coming into the widely broadcasted fight, Horn had been in every means an underdog. Most pundits hadn’t given any thought to him beating Pacquiao. The Filipino senator was in many people’s opinion the favorite to win. Given his stellar career record and his wealth of experience in the ring, Horn had seemed no much of a challenge to him.

How the fight went on

Horn started the fight on a very aggressive note. He seemed to be outboxing Pacquiao for the better part of the opening rounds. The Filipino had a rough time handling the youngster as he was forced to be always on his feet and defence. This gave him very little opportunity to throw the clinical punches he is known for.

The Hornet carried on with determination as the match went on. He continued his in-ring harassment of the legendary boxer by cornering him to the rope a number of times. Trouble however started looming for him in the ninth round when the hero in his opponent began to show face.

On the opening of the ninth round, Pacquiao descended on Horn with a series of vicious counterattacks. His punches threatened to knockdown Horn who by this time was almost actionless. The referee even warned Horn that he was going to call off the match if nothing changed in the next minute or so.

Luckily for the Queensland lad however, he withstood the ninth round storm and wasn’t knocked out. The fight then went on from there with the two boxers going tooth and neck at each other. Pacquiao however seemed to be having the upper hand in the closing rounds.

At the sounding of the final bell in round 12, Horn’s scores stood higher than those of his counterpart. This was in spite of the fact that Pacquiao had outlanded him 118 to 92. Horn had also managed to only land 15 percent of his total punches.

The two boxers were both left bleeding at the end of the match. Pacquiao had sustained injuries which left him bleeding after a pair of accidental headbutts from Horn. The first headbutt in round 6 left him with a hairline cut whereas the second one in round 7 injured his left eye. Horn on his part also sustained a left eye injury.

Horn’s victory

Following his WBO welterweight title win, Horn took time to thank the fans. He added that it was because of their support that he managed to win. There were approximately 55,000 fans attending the Pacquiao vs Horn match.

In the midst of his delight at winning the match, Horn also took the opportunity to call out Floyd Mayweather for a match. It remains to be seen whether there will be a Mayweather and Horn faceoff. Horn’s career statistics now stand at 17-0-1, 11KOs.

Pacquiao on his defeat

Speaking to the press following his defeat, Pacquiao was gracious enough to acknowledge Horn’s win. He described him as a challenging opponent. The 38 year old Filipino’s career record is now 59-7-2, 38KOs.