Australian Jeff Horn pulled off a stunning Rocky-like upset in the "Battle of Brisbane" with a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao to claim the WBO welterweight title on Sunday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
In a 12-round fight that was much tougher than expected, the local upstart Horn more than held his own against the 38-year-old Pacquiao, who has won titles in eight different weight classes during his 22-year boxing career.
All three judges gave the fight to Horn. Judge Waleska Roldan had it 117-111, and judges Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan both scored it 115-113 for Horn in a controversial decision that left many experts wondering how much the fight being in Horn's home country figured into the outcome.
According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 182 punches to Horn's 92. Horn threw more punches but landed just 15 percent of them compared with 32 percent for his opponent. In the end, though, it wasn't enough for Pacquiao win the bloody battle.
Both fighters were bleeding profusely in the late rounds — Horn from a cut near his eye and Pacquiao from a wound on his head that was opened in the middle of the bout when the two knocked heads.
Horn, a former school teacher, proved to be a gamer while boosting his record to 17-0-1 with 12 knockouts. Pacquiao, who is a senator in the Philippines, fell to 59-7-2 with 38 knockouts.
After the fight, Horn called for a showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 29 KOs).
"This is just having a bit of a dig overseas to Floyd Mayweather, but this is no joke," said Horn, as he hoisted a cane and seemingly joked about Mayweather being 11 years his senior. "Which one does he want, the walking stick or the gloves? Come have a real fight. It is definitely a dream to fight in Vegas, that's for sure."
Mayweather is snapping a two year retirement to fight UFC superstar Conor McGregor on August 26th in Las Vegas.
Horn sees no reason as to why they can't fight next.
"Why not?" Horn said. "He's coming back to fight a UFC fighter. He's going to make records doing that. Why not try to make records against a genuine contender and world champion like myself."