MANILA, Philippines: Filipinos young and old erupted in cheers Sunday as thousands of boxing fans watching a live telecast of the Las Vegas fight between the country’s hero Manny Pacquiao and Mexico’s Erik Morales spread word on cell phones ? “the Pacman” won.
From Hanoi, where she is attending the summit of Pacific Rim leaders, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said; “my heart beats with extreme joy with another victory for the Philippines.”
She congratulated both fighters for a “battle well fought.”
“We all gathered around in our homes and places of work, in the streets and farms to pray for Manny,” Arroyo said in a statement sent via text message by her spokesman. “Manny will always be our hero, the bearer of the Filipino dream of winning the good fight in all fields of human endeavor.”
“He will always be the people’s champ,” Arroyo added.
Pacquiao finished the Morales trilogy with the flair befitting a movie star, knocking down the Mexican three times on the way to a third-round knockout victory Saturday night in Las Vegas in the super featherweights’ third meeting in 20 months.
The fight was broadcast live in selected cinemas, malls and via the pay-per-view telecast, and for free in Manila sports centers, where people found out first about Manny’s victory.
At a cinema in the financial district of Makati, ecstatic fans jumped and cheered loudly after the third-round knockout. The dimly lit theater was suddenly aglow with lights from hundreds of cell phones as fans passed on to friends and relatives the news via text message.
At a downtown Manila public square, viewers carried small flags as they watched a delayed telecast on a giant screen. One fan carried a placard that read “Super Pacman, go!”
Officials in Manila and Pacquiao’s southern hometown of General Santos City promised a hero’s welcome for the champion.
Manila city mayor Lito Atienza, who joined hundreds of fans who watched the live feed at a Manila sports center, said: “We will give him a hero’s welcome, a superstar’s welcome, a friend’s welcome.”
Pacquiao’s wife, Jinky, said her husband’s victory in the third round was a surprise.
“I did not expect that (the fight) would be that quick. I expected it to last up to round 10,” she told Manila Radio DZMM from Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, who has become a national icon and inspiration for his rise from poverty, said he went to the ring nursing a fever due to swollen tonsils. He said he wants to rest after the match.
