Not the way to win

BRISBANE – Even assuming Jeff Horn deserved to win the WBO welterweight championship from Manny Pacquiao at the Suncorp Stadium here last Sunday, the victory left a bitter taste in the mouth because of the way he did it.

It was obvious from the opening bell that Horn’s strategy was to suffocate Pacquiao and turn their 12-round bout into a back alley brawl. The strategy was to neutralize Pacquiao’s quickness by not allowing him the space to move around. Without space, Pacquiao wouldn’t get the room to create angles for his power shots. Horn wanted to make Pacquiao predictable and take away his strengths.

Pacquiao admitted after the fight that he never expected Horn to rumble the way he did and confirmed his toughness. Horn did what he had to do to win. Legendary Australian champion Jeff Fenech advised him to brawl and drag Pacquiao into a toe-to-toe battle where he could assert his physicality. The idea was to closet Pacquiao and force him into a phone booth where there wouldn’t be breathing room to go side-to-side.

To get the job done, Horn couldn’t do it alone. He had help from referee Mark Nelson. If Nelson didn’t tolerate Horn’s roughhousing, the complexion of the fight would’ve been different. As it happened, Nelson turned a blind eye to Horn’s elbowing, butting, punching on the break, headlocking and holding. At least thrice, Nelson stopped the contest because of loose tape on Horn’s glove, a clever tactic to buy time for the Australian to recover from Pacquiao’s late assault. Nelson should’ve warned Horn’s corner that he would deduct a point if the issue of the loose tape wasn’t addressed. It seemed deliberate that the tape was let to hang loose so Nelson would call time out.

Pacquiao was butted on both sides of his head, drawing blood with the cuts later requiring a total of 15 stitches to close. He was headlocked and Horn banged him while in the compromised position. Once, Horn threw down Pacquiao in what looked like a mixed martial arts move. For all his dirty tactics, Horn never got a warning. For the second headbutt, Horn should’ve been slapped a point deduction. For continuous headlocking, Horn should’ve also been docked a point. He could’ve even been disqualified for resorting to dirty tactics repeatedly. But Nelson appeared to be on his side.

If Horn didn’t do what he did, Pacquiao would’ve gotten the space to box in-and-out the way he flustered Jessie Vargas and Timothy Bradley. He wouldn’t have been bottled up the way he was. 

The Compubox stats showed Pacquiao landed more punches, 182-92 – a difference of 90 shots. He also connected on more power punches, 123-73. The stats, however, could be deceiving as they’re cumulative. In boxing, the fight is decided by how rounds are won not by total punches. For instance, in a four-rounder, a boxer may win one round by connecting 20 more punches but in three other rounds, his opponent may have accumulated only 10 more punches yet he won the three rounds by slimmer margins.

The culprit in the Pacquiao-Horn fight wasn’t the Australian but the referee. Horn got away with his shenanigans because Nelson allowed it. If Nelson controlled the fight the way it should’ve been, Horn wouldn’t have won the rounds he did and Pacquiao would’ve either claimed a clear decision or scored a knockout. That’s how vital a referee’s role is. Horn set out to bulldoze Pacquiao and could’ve been restrained if Nelson did what he was supposed to as referee. But with Nelson’s tolerance, Horn did more and more rough stuff to throw off Pacquiao’s rhythm. 

It was evident that in the homestretch, Pacquiao had little gas left in his tank. Not because of age but because Horn sapped his energy with all the roughhousing. Pacquiao was literally manhandled by a bully who used to be bullied as a high school student. Pacquiao was held down, pushed around and struck illegally by Horn with not even a warning to desist from Nelson.

Horn is now the WBO welterweight champion but can Australia be proud of the way he captured the title? Pacquiao didn’t deserve to be disrespected by Horn or Nelson or the judges. For what he’s done to promote world boxing, Pacquiao should’ve at least been given a fair shake. 

While it may be true that Pacquiao underestimated Horn and didn’t train hard enough because of his work at the Senate, Nelson made it more difficult for the Filipino icon to win by tolerating Horn’s tricks. Is a rematch in order? Pacquiao has unfinished business with Horn and his fans would like nothing better than for the fighting senator to exact payback.