In the sixth round, an accidental head-butt opened a cut on Pacquiao’s hairline, and blood streamed down his body. Then Horn rocked Pacquiao with a right hand in a stunning scene. Pacquiao quickly recovered, but it had to give Horn confidence.
There was another accidental head-butt in the seventh round, and it cut Pacquiao again, this time near his left eye, and more blood streamed down his face. Horn went right at Pacquiao after the ringside doctor took a look at the cut, and the crowd got very excited.
“I feel his power. He is strong,” said Pacquiao, who after the fight needed nine stitches to close the cut on the hairline and eight stitches to close the cut by his left eye.
But Pacquiao, a southpaw, had a huge ninth round. He turned up his aggression and battered Horn, landing numerous brutal shots, especially with his left hand. Horn took them all and refused to go down, but he was in rough shape at the end of the round. Referee Mark Nelson went to Horn’s corner and told him he would not let him continue to take punishment and strongly considered stopping the fight. Horn convinced him to allow the fight to go on.
“He was a tough opponent,” Pacquiao said. “I tried to knock him out in the ninth round, but he survived. In the ninth round, I thought I am going to win the fight.”
Horn said he felt Pacquiao’s power in the ninth round but was able to recover.
“I felt fine in that corner. I wanted to keep going on,” Horn said. “I wasn’t really that hurt. I was a little bit buzzed in that round, but I recovered very quickly. He buzzed me a little bit. I felt a little off-balance in that round.”
Pacquiao, who was making the first defense of the title he won via lopsided decision against Jessie Vargas in November, continued to go after Horn in the 10th round. Horn looked spent but was somehow able to remain on his feet as he continued to show his enormous heart.
The 12th round was another intense one, as Pacquiao, without a knockout since 2009, tried to close the show. But Horn also fought hard until the final bell, thinking he might be able to land a big shot. When the fight ended, the crowd erupted. Pacquiao pumped his fists, and Horn’s cornermen raised him up.
And then came the shocking reading of the scorecards by ring announcer Michael Buffer.
“I am professional. I respect the judges. He survived that [ninth] round,” Pacquiao said, adding that the two cuts from the head-butts bothered him.
“It affected me. A lot of blood came out of my head,” he said.
Pacquiao, who made at least $10 million to Horn’s $500,000, also said he was a little under the weather, having picked up a cold upon his arrival in Australia a week earlier, but he did not harp on that.
Instead, he graciously stood at ringside next to Horn as they were both interviewed.
Horn, who is a huge Pacquiao fan and said he drew inspiration from him earlier in his career, was still seemingly in awe that he got the decision. He had the belt over his shoulder and as he walked away from ringside, he first went to Pacquiao and said, “Manny, you’re an absolute legend. Thank you.”
Article Appeared @http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/19786678/jeff-horn-defeats-manny-pacquiao-unanimous-decision