The July 2, 2017 Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn bout has been mired by the contentious decision, and the consequent calls for review from the Philippine authorities and Manny Pacquiao himself, after smelling foul-play. WBO has finally decided to review the fight and have a panel of 5 judges rescore it independently.
But the decision will stand.
So what exactly is the point of the whole farce?
Rescoring but no Reversal
In their response to GAB’s letter, the WBO says that it does not have the power to reverse the decision of the judges and they go on to call the judges “professional, distinguished, honest and honorable human beings”.
They say that the only reason for reversing the decision of the fight would be if there was a violation of the law or if there is any evidence of fraud.
If the judges’ decision is to stand, then what is WBO playing at with the review.
Will rescoring the fight give Manny Pacquiao his title? Unlikely. Will this add to his other suspect losses? Maybe.
So it seems that WBO is only trying to appease the anger that has been directed towards them from the entire boxing world.
Decision Reversals in the Past
There have been a few reviews of fights in the past, which led to decision reversal. But none of them involved WBO.
WBC once reviewed the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson fight and called it a draw, instead of the original decision that declared Dawson the winner. Hopkins retained his title as a result.
In another review, WBC again reviewed and reversed the decision of a fight in the Samuel Serrano-Benedicto Villablanca fight in 1982.
The circumstance in those fights may have been different, but at least the review had a purpose.
WBO, however, is serving no purpose for agreeing to review this fight.
It remains to be seen how GAB, Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn will respond to this decision.
Follow the rest of the story here.
Do let us know if you know of cases were WBO has made similar decisions in the past, and sound off in the comment box by sharing your opinion of the matter!
