Boxing Match Review
An independent review of the scores in the fight in which Manny Pacquiao lost the welterweight title of the World Boxing Organization has confirmed the decision that favored Jeff Horn.
A government agency in the Philippines requested that the WBO review the referee's performance and the judges' scoring during the so-called "Battle of Brisbane" that took place on July 2nd, after Horn, who was seeking his first world title, won a unanimous decision against Pacquiao, an eleven-time world champion.
In a statement released on Monday, the WBO informed that three out of the five independent judges who reviewed the fight gave the victory to Horn. One judge scored it for the Filipino and another ruled it a draw.
Francisco Valcárcel, the Puerto Rican president of the WBO, asked the judges, who came from different countries and remained anonymous, to assign their scores for each round. The organization specified that the scores would be tabulated to determine which rounds each competitor won, using a scale of averages based on 100, 80, and 60%.
Based on that analysis, the WBO indicated that Pacquiao won the third, eighth, and ninth rounds at 100%. He took the fifth at 80% and the eleventh at 60%.
Horn was awarded the first, sixth, and twelfth at 100%, as well as the second, fourth, and seventh at 80% and the tenth at 60%.
Another step, in which the scores of the independent judges for each round were combined with those given by the judges present at the fight, also confirmed the victory of the Australian, according to the WBO.
Last week, the Philippines Games and Amusement Board urged for a review of the fight, arguing that it aimed to safeguard the integrity of boxing.
After the fight in front of over 51,000 people at a rugby stadium, American judge Waleska Roldan delivered a score of 117-111, while compatriot Chris Flores gave a score of 115-113, the same as Argentinean Ramón Cerdán. Roldan's score generated the most criticism.
Pacquiao put Horn in predicaments in the ninth round, leaving him wobbly but unable to secure a knockout. Horn reacted in the final stages of the fight to remain undefeated in 18 professional bouts, after giving up his teaching career.
"This gives me evidence that I can now use. Instead of saying 'I think I won the fight,' now a group of other professionals believes that I did," Horn told the press in Brisbane on Tuesday, where he was preparing to board a flight to Los Angeles. "It's definitely nice that this has finally been put on paper."
Pacquiao had a rematch clause in the lucrative fight contract. Speculation is now growing that the rematch will take place in November, once again in Australia.