Australian boxer Jeff Horn, who is a former schoolteacher has stunned world champion Manny Pacquiao to win the World Boxing Organisation welterweight crown with a unanimous points decision in Brisbane on Sunday.
The unheralded 29-year-old former schoolteacher, who improved his record to 17-0-1, was awarded the win over the eight-division world champion by scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113, as his ultra-aggressive style proved too much for Pacquiao in the 12-round match dubbed the “Battle of Brisbane”.
Pacquiao, 38, is an eight-weight world champion considered one of the greatest fighters of his generation. His camp had predicted a “short and sweet” win over Horn, a 2012 Australian Olympian.
But Horn showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion, taking the fight to the Filipino great from the opening bell.
Pacquiao was knocked off his stride by the aggression of the taller and heavier Australian in the early rounds but looked to have weathered the storm as the fight wore on and Horn tired.
The exhausted Australian, who was cut above his right eye in round two, battled gamely on through the final three rounds, though, to win a decision that would have surprised some given Pacquiao’s late dominance.
“Very tough. I didn’t expect that tough,” Pacquiao said. “It’s okay, it’s part of the game. That’s the decision of the judges, I respect that.”
Pacquiao had been hoping to set up a second big-money showdown with Floyd Mayweather, but it was Horn who called for a fight with the unbeaten American immediately after his win.
With the fight, Pacquiao’s career record falls to 59-7-2, while Horn now stands at 17-0-1 — on wins, losses and draws.
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