THE RICH and not-so-rich Filipinos were one in cheering for Manny Pacquiao as he slugged it out with Erik Morales. It didn’t matter whether some had paid to watch a live broadcast of the fight in a mall or others saw it hours later on free TV projected on a giant screen in a plaza.
With every solid hit and knockdown, thousands of boxing fans who shelled out P300 jumped to their feet and erupted in cheers in the jampacked theaters of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.
At Plaza Miranda in Manila, men with backpacks, fathers carrying their children, and couples holding hands cheered every time Pacquiao threw jabs and powerful punches at the Mexican boxer.
In an operating room at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, nurses, doctors and aides rejoiced when a hook caught Morales in the 10th round, sending him to the canvas.
“We cheered every round, and we’d tease persons in the other room, where an operation was going on and they therefore couldn’t watch the fight, that Manny Pacquiao had fallen,” said Pearl Morito, a nurse.
Appendectomy
It was perfect that there was just one emergency operation going on throughout the bout. A 16-year-old girl was undergoing an appendectomy.
“Every break, we’d go to the hallway and just kind of cheer. Pacman’s really great!” Morito said. “Everybody was in a jolly mood.”
One of the staffers’ relatives even called from the United States to announce that Morales had been knocked down. She could not wait, so everyone knew the result by Round 2.
“It’s over for Morales,” said Jaime Base, 66, at SM Megamall. Base fought in small-town boxing events in his native Camarines Norte province in his youth.
Mark Uy, 16, said: “It’s worth it! The fight was great!”
Beamed by satellite from Las Vegas through Solar Sports, the Pacquiao-Morales rematch was a box-office hit at the mall, which opened early and devoted nine cinemas for the screening.
Sold out
Tickets were sold out two days before the fight, said theater managers, but overwhelming demand prompted ticket booths to sell more for throngs of patrons who patiently lined up although no more seats were available.
Theater officers said they could not reveal actual ticket sales. But based on theater capacities that varied from 600 to 1,100, the viewers, including a sizeable number who stood throughout the broadcast, might have well exceeded 5,000.
“We were here at 6 a.m., and we ran to get in line. My children advised me to just watch here because they knew I was impatient,” said Base, who came to the mall with his son-in-law.
4 hours of screening
Running roughly an hour ahead of the regular TV broadcast, the mall screening lasted almost four hours as it featured supporting bouts starting at around 8:30 a.m.
But when a fierce-looking Pacquiao was shown on the big screen emerging from his dressing room at 12:30 p.m., the crowd began an almost chaotic cheer.
Every time the 27-year-old boxing hero landed a brutal punch on the taller Mexican, the male-dominated crowd roared. For them, Pacquiao’s punches were like bombs dropped from a fighter jet.
On the edge of their seats, the viewers anticipated Morales’ counter punches, and kept silent each time he connected. But the mood turned festive when Pacquiao unleashed a flurry of his own, battering his rival who seemingly weakened at every sound of the bell.
“End it now!” a man yelled halfway through the match.
Ecstasy, boos
As soon as Pacquiao did, in 2 minutes 33 seconds into the 10th round, the viewers — yuppies, seniors and teens — were on their feet ecstatic, raising fists and swapping congratulations.
Many pulled out mobile phones to spread the news to friends and family members watching the delayed broadcast at their homes.
The cheers turned to boos when Pacquiao was shown on screen embracing Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, who climbed up the ring with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to congratulate the boxer moments after the fight.
“Pacquiao was in excellent form,” Fermin Aragones, 52, said at Plaza Miranda. “He really makes you proud to be a Filipino.”
Lani Laroa, 24, said staying under the sun to watch the match was worth it.
Laroa and a friend went straight to the plaza after hearing Mass at the nearby Quiapo Church.
Dancing
“We wouldn’t have seen Pacquiao’s victory had we gone home after the Mass,” she said, her eyes still glued to the giant screen on the Mercury Drug building’s facade.
Many men who watched the fight were overjoyed after Pacquiao brought Morales to his knees in Round 10.
“I knew he would win, I knew he would win,” a cigarette vendor shouted in Filipino, dancing around his friends.
Jeepneys clogged the westbound lane of Quezon Boulevard as drivers slowed down to glance at the giant screen shortly after Pacquiao won.
