What’s a congregation of the biggest names in sports without at least a mention of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao?
Comedian Rob Riggle made sure the 2-time ESPY Fighter of the Year winner and his legions of Filipino fans weren’t forgotten as he riled them up with a “Viva la Filipino!!!” battle cry after pointing out that everyone knows “Pacquiao won” (referring to his recent fight against Timothy Bradley). The crowd responded with a light-hearted laugh and some mild applause, which prompted Riggle to crack, “I was led to believe there’d be more Filipinos here.”
Pacquiao did lose out again, however, this time to nemesis Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as the 2012 Fighter of the Year award. Mayweather and Pacquiao have split the award since its inception in 2007 with Pacquiao winnin 2 (’11, ’09), and Mayweather winning 4 (’07,’08,’10,’12).
