If anyone should be screaming robbery right now, it is Manny Pacquiao’s long-time promoter Bob Arum. Yet despite the fact that people such as Lennox Lewis, Teddy Atlas and Samuel L. Jackson (!) are saying this past Saturday night’s upset decision win scored by Jeff Horn over Pacquiao was a disgrace, the Top Rank boss does not agree.
Speaking with RingTV.com, Arum – who, we all know full well, comes out and says what he is thinking – said the decision that went against his fighter was fair:
The anger, the shock and the bewilderment caused by Saturday night’s monstrous upset decision win scored by Jeff Horn over Manny Pacquiao is still being felt, and it doesn’t look like going away any time soon. Amid the cries of robbery, corruption and incompetence, is the tired old, “boxing is finished” claim.
It isn’t of course, and the July 2 result was far from the first perceived bad decision in boxing; nor will it be the last. So, where does Horn WU12 Pacquiao rank amongst the worst ever?
Though many fans attributed new WBO welterweight champ Jeff Horn’s calling out of Floyd Mayweather to overexcitement, the controversial conqueror of Manny Pacquaio insists he really does want the fight. What’s more, Horn is convinced he can defeat Mayweather the way he did Pac Man.
With time to reflect and look back on his brilliant if controversial win over Pacquiao, Horn said to Australian media as he was mobbed in Brisbane how he thinks Mayweather’s age will prove a major factor in the fight with him if it happens.
I still remember the day I set eyes on Manny Pacquiao for the first time. It was 2001 and I was living in LA and a regular at the Wildcard Boxing Club in Hollywood, where I trained to stay in shape. Though not quite the Mecca of boxing it was destined to become, the place was special even then, attracting a heady mix of up and coming pros, the odd genuine contender and former champs. You also found a liberal sprinkling of Hollywood types and a cornucopia of characters from every walk of life that had to be experienced to be believed.
There hasn’t been a big, exciting world heavyweight title fight showdown in Las Vegas for some years now, but this could very possibly change later on this year. New star and reigning WBA/IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua told Sky Sports how he believes the opportunity to fight him in a big rematch fight in Vegas will inspire Wladimir Klitschko; “get his blood boiling again,” is how AJ put it.
New WBO welterweight champ Jeff Horn is the fighter all of boxing is talking about right now; or at least the hugely controversial decision victory the Australian warrior pulled off over Manny Pacquiao, THE upset of the year so far, is the hottest topic in the sport today.
The overwhelming opinion is that Horn did not deserve the 12 round unanimous decision that went his way by way of scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice. ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael, for example, had it a wide 117-111 in favour of Pac Man, while Teddy Atlas had it 116-111 for Pacquiao.
Massive underdog Jeff Horn scored the upset of the year last night by defeating Manny Pacquiao by 12 round unanimous decision; and how the upset has upset plenty of people. The controversy surrounding the scores handed in in Brisbane, Australia is huge, with a number of notable boxing people, such as Teddy Atlas and Lennox Lewis, really tearing into the 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 decision in favour of new WBO welterweight champ Horn.
Suncorp Stadium Brisbane. PACQUAIO V HORN
Stadium is packed. Fight co-promoted by Bob Arum and Duco. Around 50,000 spectators in to watch what is being mooted as the biggest fight card in Australia’s history.
Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) used a roughhouse style of fighting tonight to beat WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) by a very questionable 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night in front of a huge crowd of 55,000 boxing fans at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Pacquiao suffered 2 bad cuts in the fight from a clash of head. Horn was cut over his right eye.
Alexander Povetkin (32-1, 23 KOs) rather easily defeated a very fragile looking fringe contender Andriy Rudenko (31-3, 19 KOs) by 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Luzhniki Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia. The fight was almost stopped in the 1st round after Povetkin appeared to injure Rudenko and his neck with a rabbit shot.