Add Category
Updated
You'd think that American sports fans would love Jeff Horn.
His story is almost too good to be true: a bullied teen turns up to a boxing gym, meets a coach who gives him confidence, goes to the Olympics and becomes a world champion by beating a living legend — Manny Pacquiao.
Not only that, he's a devoted family man who worked as a schoolteacher before turning to pugilism full time. He's so humble he was photographed taking the bins out at his Brisbane home only a few days after his win over Pacquiao at Brisbane's Lang Park in July last year.
But if social media is anything to go by, US fight fans can't stand Horn. Most think he will be embarrassingly shown up against Nebraska's Terence Crawford when the pair meet in Las Vegas on Saturday, and the tone of commentary tends to hover between disinterest and outright mockery.
So why the hatred for "The Hornet"?
1. A debated win
The judges' decision that Horn beat Pacquio remains hotly contested with many considering it an undeserved victory.
While the Australian press covered the controversy, the fight was generally treated as a feel-good story where a local boy beat the odds. The Pacquiao team's anger and appeal to the WBO were seen as a case of sour grapes.
Outside of Australia, the fight was seen as a robbery in which the judges, for whatever reason, favoured the local fighter over a beloved fading star.
"Even among hardcore boxing fans Jeff Horn is only known as the guy who fought Manny Pacquiao in July last year and won, but didn't deserve to win," says writer Rafe Bartholomew, who sends a weekly boxing newsletter called Respect Box.
"I thought Manny won that fight. He looked bad, but I thought he won pretty clearly."
2. The broadcast
As televised fights go, Pacquiao-Horn was a big event in the US. Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter, had just signed a deal with the sports broadcaster ESPN and it was the first time in history the Filipino star had appeared on basic cable in the US rather than premium cable or pay-per-view. More than 4 million people tuned in.
They witnessed a broadcast team losing its mind and abandoning any pretence of neutrality.
"They gave a huge win to Horn, the local kid, for trying hard. You're not supposed to get it for trying hard!" screamed veteran boxing analyst, Teddy Atlas.
"You're supposed to get it for winning!"
"This is a horrible decision! Horrible!" yelled talking head, Stephen A Smith.
There was little acknowledgement that the fight was very close and Horn's stock with fans took a big hit as a result.
3. Nobody likes you when you beat a legend
Ultimately the record book will show that Horn beat Pacquiao. But in boxing, a win isn't always a win. Horn will never get the credit that he perhaps deserves, because the ageing Pacquiao did not look like the Pacquiao of old.
We boxing fans are a sentimental bunch. We'll watch our idols be battered and sent into retirement, but we won't enjoy it. And we'll hold it against the guy who did the battering, even if he or she is a great fighter.
Nobody loved Larry Holmes and Gene Tunney for beating Muhammad Ali and Jack Dempsey, respectively.
When the victor is a fighter who a younger version of the legend would have beaten easily, the grudge tends to be even stronger.
"You want it to go to a fighter who is worthy of that honour, who is going to take the mantle of being a pay-per-view star and a top-five pound-for-pound guy," says Bartholomew.
"You want it to go to Terence Crawford or Vasyl Lomachenko, whoever the next big guy is, not Jeff Horn, who just doesn't pass the eye test as an elite, top-10 fighter."
Given the odds, any success Horn has against Crawford will be seen as a victory, and even a brave loss might endear him to the US sporting public and see him returning for more big fights.
Perversely, boxing fans' low expectations for Horn may work in his favour.
Alex McClintock is a freelance writer.
Topics: boxing, sport, united-states, australia
First posted