Teddy Atlas is paid to speak. He’s not paid to hold his tongue.
And he certainly didn’t do that on Saturday night.
The respected boxing trainer was on commentary duty for ESPN this weekend, tasked with covering Manny Pacquiao’s title defence against Jeff Horn in Australia.
All three judges awarded the fight to the Aussie underdog in Brisbane in a controversial decision that few from the boxing community were in agreement with.
‘Pac-man’ outlanded his opponent by some margin but left the Suncorp Stadium without his WBO welterweight title.
The outcome astounded and offended Atlas who, after the final bell, went on a scathing rant about how the scoring criteria was not adhered to.
“They gave a trophy, a win, a huge win to Horn, the local kid, for trying hard,” Atlas said from ringside.
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/881378572585357312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.givemesport.com%2F1090820-manny-pacquiaos-brilliant-reaction-when-horn-is-told-he-should-have-lost
“You’re not supposed to get it for trying hard. You’re supposed to get it for winning.
“And I thought Pacquiao won the fight, if you go by the rules – the Marquess of Queensberry rules – who lands the cleaner punches!”
Not content to leave it at that, Atlas then got the chance to interview the victor and he did not mince his words.
After congratulating Horn on the win, Atlas didn’t need a second invitation to tell the 29-year-old that he felt the decision was wrong.
“Listen, congratulations and great effort but I thought you lost,” Atlas said, right to Horn’s face.
Teddy Atlas has. No. CHILL. #PacquaioHorn
— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) July 2, 2017
“Great effort but I thought this guy was landed the punches, you were throwing a lot that were missing.”
Savage!
