On this day…Jeff Horn defeated then-38-year-old Manny Pacquiao to win the WBO welterweight world title. 

The bout saw 40,000 tickets being sold, with a reported attendance of 51,052 that pulled in a huge gate that was estimated at ten million dollars. 

The bout also threw a monkey wrench in rumored plans of a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Top Rank Inc’s next hopeful welterweight star, Terence Crawford, as Crawford would stop Horn to win the WBO welterweight title, which he still holds to this day. 

Initially, this fight was set for January 2017, but it appeared Pacquiao would fight Amir Khan in the United Arab Emirates until that fight fell through. Jeff Horn would get the nod as Pacquiao was looking to fight outside of the United States during this time. 

The judges scored the bout  117–111, 115–113, and 115–113, all for Jeff Horn.

The local government of Brisbane and Queensland would finance the event.

Who Won

At-the-time broadcaster for ESPN, Teddy Atlas was irritated at the decision as Atlas felt it was a clear victory for Pacquiao. The fight was tough to score as Pacquiao had the most meaningful round in the ninth round - nearly stopping Horn, but it was a perception fight. To many, it appeared Pacquiao landed the more telling shots, and Horn pressed forward. 

The classic 'what do you favor more aggression or effective shots', even if in small spurts? The bout amongst hardcore fight fans has been looked back upon with an asterisk, as the Australian Horn seemed to get every benefit of the doubt on the scorecards, and 

Punch stats had Pacquiao landing 182 out of his 573 thrown whereas Horn landed 92 punches out of 626 thrown. The power shots saw Pacquiao nearly doubling the output of Horn with 123 punches landed as opposed to Horn who landed 73. 

Who also was on the card…

Looking back at the undercard, world champion Jerwin Anacajas, Shane Mosley Jr., Michael Conlan, and Brock Jarvis were all featured on the undercard of this event.