GENERAL SANTOS CITY, South Cotabato, Philippines — It was past noon and the television feed of the fight had not yet come in, but some people in Manny Pacquiao’s hometown already knew that he had lost.
Before the telecast began, the US-based nephew of lawyer Thomas Falgui II sent his uncle an SMS message telling him that Mexican Eric Morales had beaten the city’s idol.
An eerie silence reigned.
“Let’s eat now, while we still have our appetite,” Falgui said, hosting a sumptuous lunch for media people. “In a short while, we will see Pacquiao lose so it’s better that we’ve had a good meal.”
Almost everywhere in the city, residents were glued to their television sets watching the preliminaries.
Little did they know that in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fight had long been over.
“It was a humbling experience for Manny. It hurts us but the defeat was even more painful for him because his countrymen were expecting him to win,” Falgui said.
Serafin Ramos Jr., Sarangani information officer, commented: “We could Print this story Send this story Write the editor View other stories
see during the fight that Morales could take the best shots of Pacquiao. So he needs more training, especially now that he had gone up to the super featherweight division.”
“This is an eye-opener for Pacquiao. Maybe he realizes now that he’s still a mortal being,” said Rommel Rebollido, Socsksargen bureau chief of the Philippine News Agency.
The bout was still in its third round when the group parted ways. They still had to file their stories for today’s issue.
