WBO to review Pacquiao-Horn judging, but says no reversal of decision

MANILA, Philippines – After petitions for an evaluation of the judging and officiating, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) has decided to set a review of the Battle of Brisbane main event, but reiterated that no reversal of decision shall be made. 

The development was announced through a post on the sanctioning body’s Facebook page on Thursday, July 6. 

The WBO says it will designate 5 anonymous judges it describes as “competent” from various countries to re-watch the fight tape without sound. The results will then be tabulated, and the majority (3 of the 5 officials) shall agree on a winner per round.

The 29-year-old Jeff Horn stunned Manny Pacquiao in his hometown of Brisbane for the WBO welterweight title on Sunday, through the judges’ scorecards, 117-111, 115-113, 115-113. 

In its Facebook post, the Puerto Rico-based WBO shared that while it does not have the power to reverse the unanimous decision verdict to crown Horn as the new welterweight champ, the review will provide fans a “certainty of who won the fight.”

(READ: Pacquiao: ‘I felt I was set up’)

The hastily written post did not mention the fighters by name, and did not mention any possible sanctions if a consensus of judges did not agree with the original scores. There was also no word on whether the performance of referee Mark Nelson, the American whom Pacquiao described as “inexperienced”, would be reviewed. 

An email to WBO officials seeking comment was not returned by the time of this story’s publication. 

The Games and Amusements Board (GAB), which oversees professional boxing in the Philippines, first called for a review, and Pacquiao himself later backed the request, urging the WBO to “take appropriate action” on the GAB’s letter “so as not to erode the people’s interest in boxing.”

WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel had tweeted on July 5 that “the discretion of a referee or judge cannot be reversed, except in a case of fraud or violation of laws which is not the case in Pac vs Horn.” The decision was widely criticized by fans and boxing analysts from ESPN, Yahoo, The Ring magazine and other outlets.

“The purpose of this review is to be able to give the fan (sic) certainty of who was the winner of the fight, even though we do not have the power to reverse the decision of the judges based on discretion,” the WBO wrote on Facebook.

“Other than there (sic) was a rematch clause on the fight contract.” 

In 2012, the WBO also used the same 5-man panel mechanics to review Pacquiao’s split decision defeat to Timothy Bradley Jr. All 5 judges in that review panel favored Pacquiao as the winner. The decision remained unchanged afterwards. – Rappler.com