The contentious Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn fight in Brisbane. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
San Juan, Puerto Rico — An independent review of the scoring in Manny Pacquiao’s contentious WBO welterweight world title loss to Jeff Horn has confirmed the outcome in favor of the Australian former schoolteacher.
A Philippine government department asked the WBO to review the refereeing and the judging of the so-called “Battle of Brisbane” in Australia on July 2 after Horn, fighting for his first world title, won a unanimous points decision against Pacquiao, an 11-time world champion.
A Philippine government department asked the WBO to review the refereeing and the judging of the so-called “Battle of Brisbane” in Australia on July 2 after Horn, fighting for his first world title, won a unanimous points decision against Pacquiao, an 11-time world champion.
In a statement late Monday, the WBO said three of the five independent judges who reviewed the bout awarded it to Horn, one awarded it to Pacquiao and one scored a draw.
WBO President Francisco Valcarcel asked the judges, who came from different countries and remained anonymous, to assign their own scores to rounds, saying the results would be tabulated to ascertain which rounds each fighter won using an average scale based on 100, 80 and 60 percent.
Based on the analysis, the WBO said Pacquiao won the 3rd, 8th and 9th round by 100 percent, the 5th round by 80 percent and the 11th by 60 percent. Horn was given the 1st, 6th and 12th rounds by 100 percent, the 2nd, 4th and 7th by 80 percent and the 10th by 60 percent.
“From the results, it can be established that Pacquiao won 5 rounds while Horn won 7 rounds,” the WBO statement said.
A further step of combining the independent judge’s scores for each round with the bout judge’s scores for each round also confirmed a win for Horn, the WBO said.
The Philippines Games and Amusements Board (GAB) last week urged a review, saying it wanted to protect the integrity of the sport.
The fight, in front of more than 51,000 people at a rugby stadium in Brisbane, was scored 117-111 by Waleksa Roldan and 115-113 each by Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan — Roldan’s score coming in for most criticism. Pacquiao had Horn wobbling and in trouble in the 9th round, but couldn’t finish him off. Horn rallied late to hold on for a points decision and remain unbeaten in 18 professional fights.
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