Pacquiao drops WBO title fight by decision

It went all the way and ended in a contentiously bitter loss, the opposite of what Manny Pacquiao’s handlers predicted for his WBO welterweight world title fight against Jeff Horn.

Pacquiao’s long-time trainer Freddie Roach tipped a “short and sweet” knockout win for the 11-time world champion in Sunday’s so-called ‘Battle of Brisbane,’ but Horn got a unanimous points decision in his first world title fight — delighting the 51,052-strong crowd.

The 38-year-old Philippines senator arrived in Brisbane a week ahead of the fight with a chartered plane carrying more than a hundred supporters and as the hot favorite to beat Horn. But he left without the WBO belt.

All three judges awarded it to Horn, with Waleska Roldan scoring it 117-111 and both Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan scoring it 115-113.

Some critics slammed it as a hometown decision, saying the statistics had Pacquiao landing twice the number of power punches as Horn.

“That’s the decision of the judges. I respect that,” Pacquiao said on the ESPN broadcast. “We have a rematch clause, so no problem.”

But Pacquiao’s conditioning trainer, the Los Angeles-based former Australian heavyweight Justin Fortune, was critical of the referees and the judging.

“Manny lost the fight, but Jeff Horn looks like a pumpkin. Those scores, that card?” he said, “It should be the other way.”

Horn started strongly and won at least three of the first five rounds on all three of the judge’s cards. But Pacquiao, after twice needing treatment for a cut on top of his head in the 6th and 7th rounds, appeared to dominate most of the rounds from the eighth.

He was close to finishing it in the 9th when he relentlessly pounded Horn and had him wobbling — to the point where referee Mark Nelson asked the 29-year-old former schoolteacher if he could continue.

Horn was confident he was always ahead on points, and was startled after the 9th when the referee asked if he was OK to continue.

“I felt buzzed for sure, but I’m the Hornet — I’ve got to come back,” Horn said. “I’m not a quitter. Australians aren’t quitters to start with. We’ve showed we’re winners.

“It was the battle of Brisbane, that’s for sure. Absolutely unbelievable.”