Mismatch

I didn’t stay up to watch the Pacquiao-Horn fight. On paper it looked like an easy money for Manny Pacquiao. Jeff Horn had never been in the ring with anyone of the calibre of multiple weight World Champion Manny Pacquiao. It looked like Manny, in the twilight of his career was cherry picking an opponent he could look good against. I was more interested in seeing who Pacquiao would step up and fight in his next fight. Keith Thurman? Errol Spence? Danny Garcia? Kell Brook? Or would he continue his farewell World Tour.

Surprise!

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to the news that Pacquiao had lost his WBO title to Jeff Horn on points. It goes to show there is no sure thing in boxing. I checked my social media timelines and it was awash with comments and memes about the travesty that went down, Down Under in Lang Park. Apparently the fight was a sure thing but Pacquiao was robbed by the judges:

Kobe Bryant tweets Ice Cube 'disbelief' meme:

"Dear boxing, this is an atrocity. What fight were the judges watching?????!!!! This fight was an obvious easy Pacquiao win. This was crooked! I have been a boxing fan my entire life but NO LONGER. I am done. If you have the balls to cheat is on free tv how can I ever trust you with a PPV. This was bullshit. Manny was cheated!!! Fuck this sport!" (marionwayans)

Two-sided beat down

So I watch a re-run of the fight, expecting to see a one-sided massacre. I happened to watch the UK telecast on BoxNation. Their narrative of the fight was very different. They had Horn winning large parts of the early rounds. Pacquiao coming back at the end but narrowly losing. The ring side commentators for BoxNation had Horn winning 115-113. Steve Bunce and others in the BoxNation studio had Horn winning 115-113.

The two American judges had Horn winning 115-113. The Argentinian judge had Horn winning by a wider margin (117-111).

Obviously a narrow victory for an underdog, in a keenly fought content isn't as sexy as a broad daylight robbery in the Australian heat.

It's symptomatic of a culture that errs towards conspiracy theories and nefarious plots rather than Rocky or Cinderella Man fables.

Hyperbolic BS

I respect the achievements of real boxing people like Teddy Atlas. However just because someone is an elite trainer or boxer does not mean they cannot be wrong. It doesn’t mean that they can judge a fight impartially. It doesn’t mean they don’t have a jaundiced view of the fight game. Everyone comes to a situation with their own personal bias.

Listen to this from Teddy Atlas:

"They gave a trophy.. a win... a huge win... to Horn, the local kid, for trying hard!"

Sorry Teddy. It was a competitive fight.

I'm not sure why are Atlas is on a verge of having a seizure over a guy winning a competitive fight? I'm no psychologist hoowever the emotion in his voice suggests some sort of Transference was going on.

Stephen A Smith gave equally impassion rants on the post-fight show. There is an increasing tendency for commentators, who are there to put a bit of colour on the event, to try to be the main attraction.

Two point round?

I mean both Stephen A Smith and Teddy Atlas gave the ninth round (where there was no knock-down) a 10-8 to Pacquiao. I believe largely because it re-enforces their point that the fight wasn't close.

"I had it 116 - 112 Manny Pacquiao. Or actually 117-112 because I gave him a two point round in Round 9." (Stephen A Smith)

Really?

Pacquiao was that dominate in the ninth round? Yes he had Horn on wobbly legs for parts of that round but was it so unusually dominate to give it a 10-8?

Shut up Ref

I'm not sure whether the ref was drinking from the same kool-aid as Atlas and Smith but I don't understand why he was intimating that he would stop the fight at the end of the ninth round, if Horn didn't 'show him something' in the next round. I've only seen referees act like that in completely one-sided fights. Situation where a fighter has been floored a few times or looks completely over-matched and too tough for their own good.

In this fight, Horn was ahead on many people's card and it was the first time Pacquiao had sustained success. Indeed, Horn when on to win the tenth round easily, almost making a complete mockery of the refs words.

Opinions are like arseholes

Who do I think won? It doesn't matter. I think it was a close fight. However I do think a lot of people are judging Jeff Horns ability against Manny Pacquiao of yesteryear, rather than the Manny Pacquiao that showed up on the night. Sure Horn doesn't have the skill to hang with prime Pacquiao or even slightly over-the-hill Pacquiao. However he hung with the Pacquiao that showed up last night. It looked like time had caught up with Pacquiao and many watching were having a hard time accepting that.

In sport, you get judged on your performance on the night. That's what makes it compelling. You cannot just show glimpses of what made you great and expect to be handed a victory. You have to go and win the contest at hand.

The fact is both men were bloodied and beaten up. Neither men went down. Both men where still standing at the final bell. Many people had it as a close fight going either way. All this means neither fighter can grumble (or gloat) about the outcome. And in fairness neither fighter did.

We (as observers) should take their lead and look forward to the rematch.