After a controversial shock win over Manny Pacquiao, new champion Jeff Horn is ignoring the criticism
Australian defiant as criticism swirls around refereeing and judging during title fight
The 29-year-old Horn, a former schoolteacher who was given almost no hope of beating the 11-time world champion, was feted by fans and politicians in his hometown on Monday and didn’t care too much about criticism – which started in a TV interview as soon as he left the ring on Sunday after the Battle of Brisbane.
“There will always be a backlash where people say I got lucky, or whatever. There will always be the naysayers saying I didn’t win the fight, but I felt like I won the fight,” Horn, now unbeaten in his 18 fights since turning professional in 2013, said as he basked in the victory on Monday. “Everyone has a right to their opinion. I’m sure I’ve (gained) a lot more fans over there than I’ve lost.”
Some critics described the result as a robbery and questioned the integrity of the sport.
Immediately after the fight, Pacquiao said he had to respect the decision and noted that he had a clause for a rematch, but he later told a Philippines news channel that he’d been confident he’d won the fight.
His trainers were critical of the referee for not doing more to stop or penalise head clashes and neck holds. And they highlighted statistics that showed Pacquiao threw twice as many punches.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Pacquiao thanked some high-profile supporters for letting their feelings be known.
“Thank you for the support and for also believing that I won the fight,” he said in the TV interview. “I’m praying that it will not affect or ruin the boxing industry.”
All three judges awarded it to Horn, with American Waleska Roldan’s 117-111 score attracting most of the criticism. US judge Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan of Argentina each scored it much closer at 115-113.
Top Rank promotor Bob Arum said it was a “close fight. It could have gone either way.”
“A couple of close rounds, but you can’t argue with the result,” he said after the fight. “I scored a lot of the early rounds for Jeff. Then I had Manny coming back in the middle. The 12th round, Jeff really won. If you give Manny the 11th, you have it a draw. You give Jeff the 11th, it’s 7-5.”
As he mingled with fans on Monday, his right eye still closed, Horn said he hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the criticism “but I’ve seen my Facebook and that’s gone gangbusters at the moment.”
“Manny Pacquiao is an absolute warrior, a legend of the sport. He might have come underdone in this fight, I don’t know,” Horn said. “I guess if we have a rematch and he put his all in, he might come in better, I don’t know.”
One thing the fight has done is ensure Horn will have a bigger profile before his next fight, whether that be a rematch with Pacquiao – now 59-7-2 and with three losses in his last eight fights – or not.
Pacquiao was back in the Philippines later on Monday, and had a military guard of honour to welcome him back to General Santos. A unanimous points decision wasn’t what anyone had been expecting.
“It was, I guess, the Manny Show. I can remember watching programmes saying the Manny Pacquiao fight in Brisbane – my name wasn’t normally mentioned,” Horn said. “But now hopefully I’m a bit more recognised and I’ve established myself in the boxing community a bit more.”
