BRISBANE, Australia — Manny Pacquiao’s trainer on Monday advised the Filipino legend to quit boxing after his sensational defeat to unheralded Australian Jeff Horn.
While controversy raged over the scoring of Sunday’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title bout in Brisbane, after all three judges awarded it to the unbeaten Horn, there were doubts whether the 38-year-old Pacquiao would return for a possible rematch.
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach said he would consider advising Pacquiao to retire after a glittering 22-year professional career in which he won world titles at an unprecedented eight weight divisions.
“I’m going to talk to Manny about maybe calling it a day, maybe this is it,” Roach said.
Given no chance by most observers, the 29-year-old Horn’s ultra-aggressive style rocked Pacquiao, with the three judges scoring the fight 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 to the Australian before 51,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
But Pacquiao, (59-7-2), who insisted on a Brisbane rematch as stipulated in his contract for the fight, declared that he would “absolutely” return for a rematch.
“We have a clause for a rematch. No problem,” Pacquiao said in the ring after the judges’ decision.
‘Go relax’
But Australian boxing great and three-time world champion Jeff Fenech also called for Pacquiao, who retired briefly last year, to hang up his gloves for good this time.
“If they let Manny fight again, that’s stupid,” Fenech said.
“He should go relax and enjoy the money he has made. He’s got nothing to prove. Retire.
“Jeff fought the right fight and took Manny to places he’d not been before … he made it a bit dirty.”
Pacquiao returned home to General Santos City on Monday and just smiled when asked by reporters whether he was considering retirement.
“I’m so happy, thank you for your warm welcome my kababayan (fellow Filipinos),” Pacquiao said.
A float had been prepared to take him on a motorcade around the city, but Pacquiao begged off and thanked the city government for the preparation.
He also apologized to his fans who had waited to see him, saying he needed to rest.
A sense of Pacquiao’s declining powers is that the Philippine senator hasn’t stopped an opponent in eight years.
Roach, however, called for an investigation into the scoring of American judge Waleska Roldan.
She had the bout 117-111 to Horn, giving Pacquiao only three of the 12 rounds, despite Horn finishing the fight badly bruised and with a shut right eye.
Horn ‘out on his feet’
According to CompuBox statistics, Pacquiao landed almost twice as many punches as Horn—182 to 92.
“I respect the judges’ decision,” Pacquiao said. “He was much tougher than I expected. Much, much tougher.”
He told Philippine television: “We thought that we won this fight.”
But Top Rank veteran supremo Bob Arum, who was at ringside, felt the win was fair. “It could have gone either way,” he said.
“A couple of close rounds, but you can’t argue with the result. I scored a lot of the early rounds for Jeff. Then I had Manny coming back in the middle.
“The 12th round, Jeff really won. If you give Manny the 11th, you have it a draw. You give Jeff the 11th, it’s 7-5.”
In Manila, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said it was time for Pacquiao to quit boxing and become “a full-time public servant.”
“Lesson learned: It is best to leave the stage while the audience is applauding,” Lacson tweeted on Monday. “Great day for Australians; sad day for Filipinos.” —REPORTS FROM AFP AND CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO IN MANILA AND EDWIN O. FERNANDEZ IN KORONADAL