Last night there was a major Boxing match that was not a pay-per-view event, but a basic cable fight aired on ESPN. Future Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao was fighting against relatively unknown Australian Jeff Horn on Horn's home turf in Brisbane, Australia. Despite Horn being the number one WBO welterweight contender, no one thought that he had much of a chance in the fight.
Social media erupted over the unanimous decision
The fight ended up going the full 12 rounds, despite referee Mark Nelson telling Jeff Horn at the end of the ninth round that he would stop the fight if he did not show signs of life.
Judge Waleska Roldan scored the fight 117-111, while judges Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan scored it 115-113 unanimously in favor of Horn. This was in contrast to ESPN commentator and ringside analyst for the fight, Teddy Atlas, who scored the fight 117-111 in favor of Pacquiao. ESPN.com itself has scored the fight 116-112 in favor of Pacquaio winning.
Once the decisions were announced basically everyone was shocked at the result, from the announcers and analysts to social media. Clearly, almost everyone watching the fight beside the judges had thought that Manny Pacquiao won. Obviously, it did not take long for many on Twitter, from everyday people to celebrities to weigh in on the controversial decision made by the judges.
Boxing is a joke, and it proves it again tonight. Are you kidding me with those scorecards?#joke #rigged
— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) July 2, 2017
#PacquiaoHorn pic.twitter.com/i1oqnD74Q2
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) July 2, 2017
Uhhhhhhh, can U Say Bullshit??!!Manny got Fucked!!! That's the Face of a Winner??!
— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) July 2, 2017
Wow! PAC loses by UD? One judge had it 117-111? 😳 Wasn't the fight that I saw!
— Lennox Lewis (@LennoxLewis) July 2, 2017
We live in a generation where boxing is no longer a sport but a business. Not surprised. #PacquiaoHorn
— Jian Genovana (@jiangenovana) July 2, 2017
All the stats say Manny Pacquiao won that fight
For a second, let's ignore the fact that basically everyone who watched the fight, with the apparent exception of the three judges, could tell that Manny Pacquiao won that fight over Jeff Horn.
The stats, all from boxing statistics site CompuBox, back up the fact that Pacquiao won the fight. For the total fight, Horn threw 52 more punches than Pacquiao, having thrown 625 to his 573. Despite throwing that many more punches, Pacquaio out-landed Horn by 90 punches, 182 to 92. The difference in the percent of punches landed was 32% to 15% in favor of Pacquaio.
In terms of jabs, Horn threw 197 compared to Pacquiao's 193. However, Pacquiao landed 59 of those punches compared to 19 for Horn, a punch landed percentage of 31% to 10%. It was the same story for power punches, where Horn threw 428 compared to Pacquiao's 380. However, Pacquiao landed 123 (32%) compared to Horn's 73 (17%). For the total fight, Pacquiao out-landed Horn for 11 of the 12 rounds. In the final round, Horn threw a fight-high 67 punches but only connected on eight of them.
