Unknown to many, the fight was on the verge of being stopped in favor of Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao.
Bleeding profusely from cuts high above both eyes caused by accidental head clashes, Pacquiao launched a savage counter-attack against Australian Jeff Horn in the ninth round of their World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight bout and appeared to have Horn in trouble with some massive blows that left the Australian staggering.
After the bell in the 9th round, the referee approached Horn's corner and told them something which Horn acknowledged and revealed in the post-fight interview.
"The ref came over (at the end of the round) and said 'show me something or I'll stop the fight'," Horn said.
"I thought, 'hang on, hold your horses, I'm not that bad, I can keep going for sure'."
Horn recovered and came out strongly in the 10th. "That was just my heart that kept me going," he said.
"He got me with a couple of good shots and I did go backwards more in that round than in any other round in the fight, but I still felt good.
"But I came back in the 10th,11th and 12th."
Horn, a former school teacher, eventually got the judges’ nod to win the crown with a unanimous points decision win on Sunday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. With reports from AFP
