MEL LIBRE:
The boxing bout between Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn ended with a unanimous decision that favored Horn. While Brisbane gave their local boy a hero’s welcome, it was a different mood in Manny’s camp. The neophyte senator has sought a review to which the WBO has agreed, appointing five anonymous judges from different countries to view the fight without sounds.
The boxing bout between Manny Pacquiao and Australian Jeff Horn concluded with the unanimous decision by the judges that favored the latter. Horn is thus the newly crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion.
While Brisbane gave their local boy a hero’s parade, it was a different mood in Pacquiao’s camp. Because of the lukewarm acceptance of the verdict, the neophyte senator has sought a review to which WBO officials agreed. Five unnamed judges from different countries were appointed to view the fight without sounds. But even if the committee of five sides with Pacquiao, it will have no power to reverse the decision of the official fight judges.
Though Horn had one puffy eye in front of his compatriots during the parade, still Brisbane feted him, having attracted 51,025 in Suncorp Stadium, a TV audience of more than 500 million and promoted their city to the world. Already, he is sitting on a gold mine, with a guaranteed $2 million for a rematch with Pacquiao.
The call for Pacquiao to retire has started to snowball, a development similar to when Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, the greatest super featherweight champion of all time in WBC history, was on a four-bout losing streak from June 1967 to April 1969. But at 35 years old in 1970, the Flash had a second wind with 7 wins and 2 loses, all non-title fights. His final bout at age 36 in May 1971 ended in a loss against Hiruyuki Murakami.
At 38, Pacquiao has surpassed Flash Elorde as the greatest Filipino boxer of all time. He is a shoo-in as a Boxing Hall of Famer and there is really no need for him to avenge his controversial loss to Horn. It is similar to his loss against Tim Bradley, wherein the WBO review committee all scored the fight in favor of Pacquiao, though the result was not overturned. Pacquiao settled the issue by unanimous decision in their rematch.
Not only do the statistics reveal the superiority of Pacquiao’s punches against that of Horn. There was no instant that Pacquiao was staggered unlike Horn who was saved by the bell in Round 9. I am confident Pacquiao will pummel Horn black-and-blue in a rematch.
It is unfortunate that the Pacquiao-Bradley I fiasco did not dig deeper into the malfeasance of the judges. Could it be that gambling had something to do with it? This is the same question that should be asked in the Pacquiao-Horn controversy. The investigation should go beyond administrative to becoming a police matter. It could not simply be sloppy judging, but probably deliberate.
The popularity of boxing is plummeting visà-vis mixed martial arts that is gaining a bigger audience. Episodes such as Pacquiao-Bradley I and Pacquiao-Horn are blackeyes to boxing, and if no severe penalties are meted on the shenanigans in the sport, there will be no respect for champions anymore.