The Horn vs Pacquiao fight

It was interesting in more ways than one. Did anybody know that Manny Pacquiao was still even fighting, let alone a world champ in some division or other? I thought he retired to be a Filipino congressman. Hey, the dude's 38 years old. He isn't supposed to be getting in the ring any more with young studs like Jeff Horn.

Interesting point #1.

The welterweight bout was held in Brisbane, Australia. That just happens to be the home town of Jeff Horn. So why did so many (over 55,000) in the packed stadium appear to be rooting for Pacquiao? Yikes, if a fighter is the underdog in his home town, good luck if and when he has to travel the globe facing other world-class opponents.

And underdog Horn was. This according to all the "experts", of course. Never mind he was undefeated going in and had racked up a string of KOs against other worthy opponents in recent times.

Interesting Point #2.

It became painfully obvious throughout the fight that the commentators were hopelessly biased on the side of Pacquiao. Apparently, so was the referee. He wanted to stop the fight and give it to Pacquiao in the latter rounds, though Horn appeared to still be the aggressor.

Along those lines, Interesting Point #3.

While Horn's face was bruised and bloody, so was Pacquiao's. It happens after several rounds of guys hitting each other in the head. Yet the announcers said Horn was "a mess" while they deemed Pacquiao merely "dinged up" a tad.

Interesting Point #4.

All the ring-side commentators had Pacquiao easily winning the fight when the 12 rounds were finally finished. I saw it as a bit closer, but to be fair, thought Manny had got the better of Jeff, by a SLIGHT margin.

The ever-lovable and yappy-head Teddy Atlas, supposedly a boxing guru who knows all -- had Pacquiao winning the bout 116 - 111. A unanimous decision bordering on a beat down. Huh? He might have won it, but surely not by THAT wide a margin.

Yet given the pro-Pacquiao (and very unprofessional) rhetoric that permeated the broadcast throughout, it seemed inevitable the Filipino would retain his title as champ of -- well -- something.

Then came the most Interesting Point of all.

When the judges' scorecards were finally tallied and announced, much to the surprise of most -- including myself -- it was HORN who was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

Did he win it fair and square? I dunno. But the only folks that count -- the judges -- said so. Kind of like the jury in the OJ murder trial. Many saw it one way, but the only people that mattered saw it quite differently. And right or wrong, they got/get to make the official call.

So how could the above-mentioned Teddy Atlas have gotten it so wrong by such a wide margin? Is he that clueless? Punch drunk? Maybe.

Then again, perhaps that could lead to Interesting Point #6.

Let's see. The TV folks were obviously in Pacquiao's corner.

So was the referee inside the ring.

The majority of the fans in attendance, even though it was the Aussie's home town, had been cheering for the Filipino throughout.

Quick, somebody check where those three ringside judges were from. Bet that could be much more interesting yet.

Ah well. Manny still has his day job as a politician -- I think. And a few more million in the bank.

There's worse things for a 38 year old to ponder.....