Soccer
  • Home
  • Boxing
  • What happened to the former P.E. teacher who beat Manny Pacquiao?

What happened to the former P.E. teacher who beat Manny Pacquiao?

The Australian delivered one of the biggest upsets in modern times by outpointing a boxing great in Brisbane.

Jeff Horn, remember him?
The former P.E. teacher's life completely changed when he fought Manny Pacquiao in front of 50,000+ fans for the welterweight world title in 2017.
It is fair to say the selection of Horn by Team Pacquiao was an underwhelming choice.

Especially when you consider the Filipino icon posted a Twitter poll asking fans who they wanted to see him fight; Amir Khan was top with 48 per cent while British foe Kell Brook was in second place with 24 per cent - Horn meanwhile got just 7 per cent.

When a showdown with Khan collapsed in the UAE, Pacquiao turned to the Australian. He was a relatively unknown name unless you lived in Australia or New Zealand.

Even Pacman admitted he didn't know who he was.
The Fighting Schoolteacher - who took up boxing as a form of self-defence because of previous experiences of being bullied - did have a good pedigree though, having represented his country at the 2012 Olympics.
He was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Denys Berinchyk, who went on to win silver in the light middleweight category.

Before facing Pacquiao - boxing's only eight-division ruler - Horn was undefeated in 17 bouts and ranked No.2 with the WBO.

Despite being a decade younger, the Aussie was installed as a big outsider to emerge victorious in his hometown and rightly so. Pacquiao's last three opponents were Jessie Vargas, Timothy Bradley and Floyd Mayweather compared to Randall Bailey, Rico Mueller and Ali Funeka for Horn.
Some 159 countries picked up the fight with ESPN staging the event on a Saturday night prime time slot for Americans.

Promoter Bob Arum said it was a treat for Pacquiao fans and promised it would be an entertaining fight for those tuning in.

Manny Pacquiao is boxing's only ever eight-division champion

It was expected to be a nice payday for Pacquiao and another country ticked off the list before he looked at bigger fish to fry. Horn and the three judges scoring the bout had other plans, however.

In what was, in all honesty, a scrappy and rather dull, poor encounter, and one which nearly got stopped in round nine after an onslaught from Pacquiao, the world would go on to witness one of the most shocking results of the decade as Horn got his hand raised by Mark Nelson.

The scorecards from Waleska Roldan (111-117), Chris Flores (115-113) and Ramon Cerdan (115-113) were met with outrage, especially Roldan's.
CompuBox stats showed Pacquiao had landed 182 out of 573 punches thrown while just 92 of 625 punches had landed for Horn - not that punching stats can determine a result but those were the numbers at the end of the contest.
Due to the contest receiving wide criticism, the WBO conducted an independent investigation and re-scored the fight through the eyes of five judges.
The WBO decided not to reverse the decision, revealing they could only revoke the result when fraud or a law had been violated.

Pacquiao intended to trigger his rematch clause but later pulled out due to his commitments as a senator in the Philippines.

It saw Horn make a successful first defence of his WBO crown with a stoppage win over Britain's Gary Corcoran but the Queensland star would relinquish the belt to Terance Crawford in his sole fight in America at the MGM Grand.

Since then, he has racked up two wins and avenged his defeat to Michael Zerafa at middleweight. Horn's most recent bout was against Tim Tszyu - the son of former light welterweight king Kostya Tszyu - who British fans remember more for his devastating defeat to Mancunian Ricky Hatton in 2005.

In front of more than 16,000 fans in 2020 during the ongoing global pandemic, Horn tasted a one-sided defeat to Tszyu and has not returned to the ring since.
At least the Australian held a version of the world title and can one day tell his grandkids about beating one of boxing's greatest, even if it was disputed.

Read more: Why 2021 should be the year Amir Khan receives a knighthood by Her Majesty

    More Articles