Horn v Pacman

I'm loving it, relative unknown Jeff Horn defeated WBO champion Manny Pacquiao in a unanimous decision at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. The former school teacher was given an opportunity after Pacquiao's fight against Amir Khan in the UAE fell through after initially agreeing to fight Horn and then reneging on the deal.

Now, I used the term a unanimous decision, not a majority or a split decision to describe the bout outcome because Horn was ahead on all the judge's scorecards. Pacquiao himself is no stranger to controversial decisions after narrowly defeating Juan Márquez twice on split decisions to win the WBA belt; most believed he lost both fights but the decision stood and Pacquiao refused to fight Márquez a third time.

So you can imagine the hypocrisy of the Pacquiao camp demanding the fight to be rescored. Is this the actions of a sore loser? What was hugely amusing was that the WBO rescored the bout after the Philippine government and Pacquaio camp pressured the WBO into a re-evaluation. The five independent judges all awarded the fight to Horn and the result stood.

Here is the irony, the now fabulously rich Pacquiao flew around business class promoting the fight whilst Horn sat in economy. Horn was paid $500,000 whilst Pacquiao pocketed $10 million for the bout, there was no winner/loser split so Manny made $10 mill for a win, lose or draw. Horn had one shot, one chance to make his mark, he took his opportunity and prevailed - he was ultra motivated.

Now Jeff Horn, the former high school teacher is $500k richer (less costs) but he is the current holder of the WBO welterweight title. I hope if he engages in a rematch with Pacquiao he is paid handsomely with the split being in his favour this time now that he has the ability to dictate the terms. If Pacquiao wants a rematch, maybe the $500k is his fight fee as contender and Horn is the champion pocketing the $10 million. No big payday or no rematch - this might be his only big payday and he needs to make it count.