So, the huge upset huge underdog Jeff Horn scored in that hugely controversial decision win over Manny Pacquiao was legit after all. How do we know this, because the WBO had the July 2 fight re-scored, with five independent judges viewing the action.
The results of the re-score had Horn winning by a 7 to 5 margin in rounds, or 115-113 – which is the exact same score Horn won by via two of the official judges on fight night. Horn, who never doubted the validity of his win, is pleased with the results of the re-scoring process all the same.
“It’s definitely nice to have it finally put on paper that I won the fight,” Horn said to The Sydney Morning Herald. “I thought I’d won the fight on the day and I think Pacquiao thought it as well. Now, just to have it clear in front of us is good. I was pretty confident it was going to come back as a result for myself again. Everyone has different perspectives on what happens. I had watched the fight and I saw me winning it.”
The re-scoring process was as follows: five independent judges watched the fight, with the sound turned off, and to determine the winner of each round, three of the five judges had to be in agreement. The results handed in had Horn winning rounds one, two, four, six, seven, ten and twelve. However, even if the new scores found Pacquiao to be the winner the official result would not have been changed.
Now that this controversy has been put to bed, fans are wondering if there will be a rematch. Pac Man, aged 38 and clearly no longer the utterly devastating fighter he once was, has the rematch clause option should he wish to go for revenge, but many people are advising him to retire.
Horn says he would definitely take the rematch with no worries, and if it does happen, the fight will likely be even bigger than the first bout; itself the biggest fight in Australian boxing history.