Jeff Horn scored a controversial unanimous decision win over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday, and we have all the play-by-play action from the card.
Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn combined for a 12-round war on Saturday, but in the end the fight ended with a controversial decision win for the hometown boy, Horn. The judges scored the bout 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 for Horn, but many had Pacquiao winning the fight.
Pacquiao was heavily favored going into the bout. Horn came into the fight as an undefeated prospect who had never fought anybody at Pacquiao’s level. Pacquiao, though no longer in his prime, was expected to pick Horn apart and score an easy points win.
That’s not exactly what happened. Horn displayed his youth and superior strength early, consistently rushing Pacquiao down and bullying him into the corner or against the ropes. But in these exchanges, Pacquiao was swimming and dodging all the serious shots from Horn and eventually started to put together combos of his own. When Horn slowed down, Pacquiao responded with his signature crisp combos and he opened up a cut that was swelling big time in the later rounds.
Pacquiao also had a couple cuts on his own head, but they weren’t near the eye, so he was good to go. Horn definitely took some of the earlier rounds, and showed signs of life in the 11th round, but Pacquiao put together a couple potential 10-8 rounds in the latter half of the fight. Horn really fought back in the latter two rounds, but most thought Pacquiao did enough to win it.
Pacquiao came into this fight with two wins since his last loss, to Floyd Mayweather, and now will go back to the drawing board again.
Jerwin Ancajas and Teiru Kinoshita faced off in the co-feature on the card, and it was a great fight. Well, it was for a little bit, until Ancajas opened up a cut above Kinoshita’s right eye. From there, Ancajas punished that spot and the swelling became too much. In the seventh round, Ancajas landed a brutal body shot that put Kinoshita on the mat. Kinoshita took his time getting up, and by then his right eye was essentially completely closed. The referee stopped the fight there, giving Ancajas a TKO victory.
In the first fight of the televised card, middleweight Shane Mosley Jr. suffered his second career loss, falling to the (still) undefeated David Toussaint. Mosley is the son of legendary boxer Sugar Shane Mosley, but he now has two losses in his short career. One judge saw it his way on Saturday, as Toussaint took a split decision, but the fight really wasn’t that close. Toussaint faded late and Mosley capitalized, but was unable to score a stoppage and was too far back on the judges’ scorecards.
The second televised bout saw Irish prospect Michael Conlan in his third professional fight and with it, his third professional win. Conlan was an amateur boxing sensation and on Saturday, he looked as professional as it gets en route to a third-round TKO of Jarrett Owen in featherweight competition.
Jeff Horn def. Manny Pacquiao via unanimous decision (117-111, 115-113, 115-113)
Round 1: Horn is looking for the hard right hand early, throwing two big overhands that Pacquiao avoided. Horn throws and lands a good body shot combo as Pacquiao backs up and avoids the shots to the head. Pacquiao hasn’t thrown a strike yet at this point. Horn is very aggressive. He gets Pacquiao against the ropes, but can’t land on the chin like he wants. He keeps getting Paquiao up against the ropes, and the round comes to an end. It’s a clear Horn round, but there’s a long way to go.
Round 2: Aside from one decent counter strike, Pacquiao hasn’t really landed yet. Horn keeps coming in with big hooks that Pacquiao just ducks under. Pacquiao sidesteps and lands a big right jab as he circles away. They clinch, and are separated. Horn just misses with a left hook counter that had some heat behind it. They clinch again, and are separated again. Pacquiao is landing with the jab, and he delivers a huge left hook to the body. Horn responds with a flurry of punches that have Pacquiao backing up. This is a brawl! The round comes to an end and it was much closer than the first.
Round 3: Pacquiao shakes off Horn’s attempts at a combo and laughs. He’s done that a couple times now. Horn lands a huge right hook over the top and they clinch up. Horn has a cut over his right eye. Pacquiao comes forward with some outside shots of his own. Horn nearly takes his head off with a short right but Pacquiao slips away from it. Horn is content to swing hard and hit Pacquiao’s arms he’s got so much power. Pacquiao lands a big jab combo, then a body shot, then jumps away before Horn can respond. Pacquiao is controlling this round.
Round 4: Pacquiao slips early in the round, but nothing serious. Horn keeps coming forward with big three-punch combos and Pacquiao keeps avoiding serious damage. Pacquiao lands a big straight to the body. Horn lands a good body shot of his own, and lands a short left. Horn keeps bullying Pacquiao into the ropes or the corner, but in all of this, Pacquiao is avoiding damage and ducking under the biggest shots.
Round 5: Horn looks like he might be slowing a little, but nothing serious so far. He really wants to land the hook straight combo but every time, Pacquiao is out of range. Pacquio swings a big right hand, and lands a short left as they disengage. They clinch again. Pacquiao keeps sneaking in an outside right hand and Horn is flustered. Horn keeps pressing the action, but he’s not landing.
Round 6: Horn gets Pacquiao against the ropes and lands some big body shots, some of his best of the fight. Pacquiao gets out of it. There seems to be a big accidental clashing of the heads and the referee stops the action briefly. Pacquiao has a big cut on the top side of his head, but it’s not near his eye so the fight resumes. Horn seems to have found a second win, and he starts working some combos that aren’t just him rushing for Pacquiao’s head. He’s not doing serious damage, but he’s landing more shots this round, and it might be one for him.
Round 7: Pacquiao lands a couple stiff jabs early, both while moving away from pressure. They tie up several times, and the referee has to step in. The referee also has to have Pacquiao’s cuts checked out again. He has one on both sides of his head at this point. Horn lands a big overhand right in a scramble. He stumbles Pacquiao and gets him up against the ropes, where he lands some more body shots. Pacquiao lunges forward with a big right overhand that just glances off Horn, who stepped away. Pacquiao connects with a left uppercut as the round comes to an end.
Round 8: It was another clash of heads in that opened the second cut on Pacquiao. Pacquiao looked mad at the end of that round. He’s coming forward big time in this round. He lands a left jab as he backs away from an exchange. Horn slips and the referee says it’s not a knockdown. Pacquiao connects with an overhand right to the head. Pacquiao lands another strong right hook that staggers Horn. They clinch up.
Round 9: Horn tries for another rushing combo, by Pacquiao ducks and they clinch. Left hook just misses from Pacquiao. Pacquiao lands a jab, then a hook, and he is bouncing around, throwing from different angles and peppering Horn. Horn looks very, very tired. Pacquiaio lands a huge one-two hook combo that stagges Horn. Pacquiao is rushing forward now. He has Horn backing up and wobbly. More clinching. Horn’s face is getting battered here, and the round comes to an end.
Round 10: They look at Horn’s eye between rounds. It’s definitely looking bad. But the round starts and Horn keeps coming forward. He may look tired, but he’s still throwing, and that’s something. Pacquiao is slowing down a little here, after such a dominant round it’s no surprise. But he is still keeping out of Horn’s range, avoiding the overhands and peppering him with short hooks and jabs.
Round 11: Horn bullrushes again, and Pacquiao is backed quickly into the ropes. Horn doesn’t land anything significant in this exchange, though. Pacquiao changes levels and is well away from the overhands and hooks that Horn is trying to land. They clinch several times, more than they have in other rounds. Pacquiao can’t put anything together because Horn is just putting his big body right in his face.
Round 12: Horn again rushes Pacquiao right into the ropes. The referee nearly stopped the fight two rounds ago due to Horn’s eyes, but Horn is fighting back big here. Horn just misses with a big overhand right. They separate so Horn’s corner can cut the loose tape on his gloves. Horn bullies Pacquiao into the ropes and lands some big body shots, but Pacquiao connects with two short punches to the face. Pacquiao’s face is bloodied, and they keep clinching. Horn is winning this round — and Pacquiao lands a big left cross to the face. They clinch again. Right straight from Pacquiao and another clinch. Left hook from Pacquiao and a big short right hook from Horn as the fight comes to an end.
Pacquiao vs. Horn fight card
Welterweight: Jeff Horn def. Manny Pacquiao via unanimous decision (117-111, 115-113, 115-113)
Super flyweight: Jerwin Ancajas def. Teiru Kinoshita via TKO in Round 7
Featherweight: Michael Conlan def. Jarrett Owen via TKO in Round 3
Middleweight: David Toussaint def. Shane Mosley via split decision (75-77, 77-76, 77-76)