Jeff Horn has won a bloody and brutal ‘Battle of Brisbane’, scoring a contentious points victory over the legendary Manny Pacquiao on Sunday – and not everyone is happy about it.
In front of a packed hometown crowd at Suncorp Stadium, Horn punched his ticket to boxing’s big time with an incredible performance to claim Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight championship.
The three judges scored the closely-fought bout 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 – a unanimous decision in Horn’s favour, albeit one that has angered fans across the world.
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Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach tipped on the morning of the fight that Horn wouldn’t last three rounds.
Bookmakers also roundly shunned the 29-year-old former schoolteacher and 2012 London Olympian, who first took up boxing after he was bullied as a teenager.
But intent on silencing his doubters and making a name for himself in front of a television audience in the tens of millions, Horn went the full 12-round distance with one of the greatest boxers of the era and came out on top to deliver one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.
“I feel like a winner,” Horn said.
“My heart just kept me going.”
