Soldiers and insurgents joined millions of Filipinos crowding around television stations at homes and in bars around the country to watch Manny Pacquiao make history in defeating Miguel Cotto.
The 30-year-old claimed the WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas with a 12th round victory over the Puerto Rican, becoming the first boxer to ever win seven titles over seven different weights.
Despite the fight taking place in the early hours of the morning in the Philippines, millions of people are thought to have watched the fight on TV, many on giant screens erected in cities across the country.
In the country’s war-torn south, where the army is fighting separatist and al-Qaida linked militants, soldiers put down their guns to watch the fight, as did the militants themselves.
Filipino president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo described Pacquiao, regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, as an “inspiration to Filipino youth”.
“I hope we can all learn from his example so that, together, we can also move forward as a nation,” she added in a statement.
