By Minnie Larry
In front of a Brisbane, Australia crowd of 51,052 at the Suncorp Stadium, Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) won the WBO Welterweight belt from a stunned Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) with a unanimous decision.
Early in the contest, Horn used his size to bully the smaller Pacquiao. In the third, Pacquiao landed a left which opened a cut over Horn’s right eye.
In the middle rounds, Pacquiao started to land the heavier shots which further aggravated Horn’s right eye, causing blood to ooze down his face. There was a clash of heads in round six which caused a cut on Pacquiao’s hairline as well. In round seven, there was another accidental head-butt which opened a cut around Manny’s left eye.
Manny, in round nine, landed devastating shots which battered the novice Horn all around the ring. Following the round, referee Mark Nelson, told Horn’s corner that he would stop the fight if he did not see anything from Horn.
Round ten saw an energized Horn take the fight to Pacquiao, and by the final round, Horn and Pacquiao exchanged a spurt of shots, to the delight of the crowd. According to CompuBox stats, Pacquiao landed 182 of 573 (32%) while Horn landed 92 of 625 (15%) punches, and it looked like an easy victory for Pacquiao. However, the judges saw things differently, scoring the bout unanimously for Horn: 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 x2.
Jerwin Ancajas (25-1-1, 17 KOs) scored a TKO over Teiru Kinoshita (25-2-1, 8 KOs) to retain his IBF Junior Bantamweight World Championship. Ancajas battered the overmatched Kinoshita from the start, landing crisp shots which caused a huge cut above Kinoshita’s right eye. Ancajas ended the bout in round seven with a huge body shot that sent Kinoshita sailing to the mat. Time was 1:53.
Irish Olympian Michael Conlan (3-0, 3 KOs) scored a victory over Jarrett “Juarez” Owen (5-5-3, 2 KOs) after the latter’s corner threw in the towel.
David Toussaint (11-0, 8 KOs) won by split decision over Shane Mosley, Jr. (10-1, 7 KOs), Scores were 77-76, 77-76 for Toussaint, 77-75 for Mosley.
