By Ivan Watson and Pamela Boykoff, CNN
hometown hero may be nursing his wounds, but Manny Pacquiao fans in the Philippines are already calling for a rematch.
“We are not satisfied,” said Gel Bucani, 19, a Manila shopkeeper. “Rematch!” she added.
“For all of us Filipinos it’s disappointing. He did everything, but nothing happened,” said Mike Camenza, 23, who insisted he was still proud of the Philippines’ most famous son.
Love for the “Pacman” runs deep here, even after his loss to American Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas.
Pacqiuao is a huge star in his home country, where his rags-to-riches story connects to locals.
He is not just a boxer, but also a congressman, singer, basketball coach and owner of everything from a bottled water brand to a shopping mall.
Millions in the Philippines watched the fight, which was broadcast on all major television networks, shown in stadiums and parks, and even in movie theaters. Even a heat index of upwards of 40 degrees in some parts of the country wasn’t enough keep the fans away.
Some 10,000 gathered for a free screening in a basketball stadium in the Manila neighborhood of San Andres.
The crowd responded boisterously when Pacquiao entered the ring to a self-recorded song, entitled “I will fight for the Filipinos.” They cheered every time Pacquiao landed a punch and rarely missed an opportunity to boo his opponent, at times breaking out into chants of “Manny, Manny.”
Celebrity attendees at the match in Las Vegas — including Mark Wahlberg and Michael Jordan — were also popular with the crowd, though they didn’t have much time for Justin Bieber, who had thrown his support behind Mayweather.
Near disaster struck for the San Andres viewers in the 8th round, when the local satellite feed cut out and the big screen at the end of the stadium broadcast the message “no signal.” Some frustrated fans started to leave the stadium, before the signal was restored to a reception of joyous shouts in the 10th round.
“It was just a technical problem,” explained Sally Ramillo, duty officer of the San Andres Sports Complex.
After twelve rounds without a knockout, fans held out hope that the judges would rule in Pacquiao’s favor, but it was not to be.
Disappointed after the unanimous points decision in favor of Mayweather, they quickly shuffled out of the stadium.
Less than two hours later, fans on the street were not eager to talk about the blow to their idol. But they were sure of one thing: they definitely want a rematch.
Floyd Mayweather outboxed and outmaneuvered Manny Pacquiao to claim a unanimous points victory in the most lucrative boxing match in history Saturday, taking his unblemished professional record to 48-0 and cementing his place as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
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After 12 high-intensity and often tactically cautious rounds, the judges’ scorecards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas read 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 in favor of Mayweather.
And while Vegas is a town not unfamiliar with a controversial points decision, there could be little disputing the outcome of this showdown for the WBA, WBC and WBO welterweight titles.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, hugs Manny Pacquiao after defeating him in their welterweight unification bout.
For some, it was the fight that almost never happened as high demand meant some pay-per-view viewers in the U.S. experienced disruptions to their service.
Yet after a short delay to proceedings to enable broadcast problems to be ironed out, “MayPac” was finally on.
‘Fight of the Century’
The sense of anticipation as both men entered the ring was all the $300 million purse and their indisputable reputations promised.
Manny Pacquiao acknowledges the crowd before the start of his world welterweight championship bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Fight fans, pundits and TV networks had been demanding this bout as far back as 2009 when both men were arguably at their peak.
A series of contractual disputes and stipulations regarding drug testing, however, initially ensured an agreement was impossible.
But after a chance meeting between the pair at an NBA game in Miami earlier this year a deal was in the making. By February, it was on.
Tickets for the event sold out in minutes. Some were exchanging hands on the black market for as much as $350,000 before the fight. Even closed circuit relays of the match in Vegas were reportedly selling for as much as $3,500 a ticket, while viewers tuned in from every corner of the globe on pay-per-view channels.
In Pacquiao’s homeland of the Philippines, millions tuned in to watch their hero, congressman and cultural icon take on the man known to refer to himself as “TBE” (The Best Ever.)
Yet for all his talk of being better than Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, there was something different about Mayweather before this fight.
His usual trash talk and brash outspokenness was noticeably absent. Some said it was uncharacteristic nerves, others extreme focus on his biggest ever challenge. Some even wondered whether Mayweather was displaying a new-found maturity.
At the ripe old age of 38, could that really be?
This, after all, is the man who once waved around a chicken with a fake gold medal round its neck to mock Olympic gold medal winner, Oscar De La Hoya, when the pair met in what was previously the most lucrative bout of all time in 2007.
Ready to rumble
The way the fight began Saturday, it looked like those predicting a supremely focused Mayweather were correct.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a left at Manny Pacquiao.
The 10-time world champion and the larger man, sought to establish his dominance early, using his jab to keep the powerful Pacquiao at a distance while landing with two large right hands early on.
But Pacquiao was the aggressor at the beginning of round two. The Filipino moved forward more although he still found it difficult to make contact with the ever elusive Mayweather.
Earlier in the week, former middleweight world champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins described Mayweather’s defensive style as like a turtle going into its shell. “You can beat that shell up but you’re not hurting him.”
Like the wily tortoise up against the hare, the man with the impenetrable shell looked to be in control.
Round three offered much of the same but Pacquiao finally began to land in round four, pushing Mayweather against the ropes and letting rip with a sequence of blows to the body.
Mayweather fought back in five and six, reasserting his control although Pacquiao twice caught him with his dangerous left hand.
Trainer Freddie Roach adjust Manny Pacquiao’s mouthguard.
By the eighth, the fight had become a chess match. Mayweather moved and picked his opponent off with the jab. Pacquiao was only landing with 18% of his punches, far fewer than his usual average of 34%.
When the 10th arrived the cocky Mayweather was back, smiling and dropping his hands to taunt an increasingly frustrated Pacquiao.
The Pacquiao corner knew a knockout was required but their man had to catch his fleet-footed opponent in the opposite corner first.
Alas, it was a task the crowd favorite could not rise to, although the fighter himself felt he had done enough to claim victory.
“I thought I won,” Pacquiao said in the ring post fight. “He didn’t do nothing, just moved outside. I got him many times.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr. celebrates victory after the MGM clash.
“He is moving around and it’s not easy to throw a lot of punches if your opponent moves around. I can handle his power, it’s not strong like other opponents. It’s not about size. I’ve been fighting bigger than him and it’s not a problem.”
Understandably, the victorious Mayweather — as well as most ring-side observers — disagreed.
“I was a smart fighter, I out-boxed him,” said Mayweather, shaking off boos from the crowd which was unimpressed with his defensive style.
“We did what we had to do tonight. I knew he was going to push me. He had moments in the fight but I kept him on the outside.”
“He’s a hell of a fighter. Now I see why he is one of the guys at the pinnacle of the sport of boxing.”
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« Nous ne sommes pas satisfaits, » dit le Gel Bucani, 19, uncommerçant de Manille. « Match revanche! », a-t-elle ajouté.
Pour chacun d’entre nous, les Philippins, c’est décevant. Il a toutfait, mais rien n’est arrivé, a déclaré Mike Camenza, 23, qui a insisté sur le fait qu’il était toujours fier du fils le plus célèbre desPhilippines.
L’amour pour les passages de « Pacman » profond ici, mêmeaprès sa défaite contre l’américain Floyd Mayweather à LasVegas.
Pacqiuao est une énorme star dans son pays d’origine, où sonhistoire de chiffons à la richesse se connecte à la population locale.
Il n’est pas juste un boxeur, mais aussi un membre du Congrès,chanteur, entraîneur de basket-ball et propriétaire de tout d’unemarque d’eau embouteillée à un centre commercial.
Des millions aux Philippines regardé le combat, qui a été diffusésur tous les grands réseaux de télévision, montrés dans les stadeset les parcs et même dans les salles de cinéma. Encore un indicede chaleur de plus de 40 degrés dans certaines parties du paysn’était pas assez garder les fans de suite.
Quelque 10 000 se sont réunis pour un dépistage gratuit dans unstade de basket-ball dans le quartier de Manille de San Andres.
La foule a réagi bruyamment lorsque Pacquiao est entré l’anneaupour une chanson Self enregistrée, intitulée “Je me battrai pourles Philippins”. Ils ont applaudi chaque fois Pacquiao a atterri uncoup de poing et rarement manqué une occasion de boo de sonadversaire, parfois éclate en chants de « Manny, Manny. »
Fans de lutte, les experts et les réseaux de télévision avaient étéexigeant ce combat dès 2009, quand les deux hommes étaientsans doute à leur apogée.
Cependant, une série de différends contractuels et dispositionsconcernant le dépistage des drogues, assurée au départ qu’unaccord était impossible.
Mais après une heureuse rencontre entre les deux un match deNBA à Miami plus tôt cette année un accord était en gestation.En février, c’est sur.
Billets pour l’événement vendus en quelques minutes. Certainssont échangeaient des mains sur le marché noir pour autant que$350.000 avant le combat. Même circuit fermé Relais du match àVegas vendaient aurait été pour autant que 3 500 $, un billet,alors que les téléspectateurs à l’écoute de tous les coins du globesur les chaînes de télévision à la carte.
Dan la patrie de Pacquiao des Philippines, des millions à l’écoutede regarder leur héros, la membre du Congrès et l’icôneculturelle prendre sur l’homme connu à se désigner lui-mêmecomme “TBE” (The Best Ever.)
Encore pour tous ses discours d’être mieux que Muhammad Aliet Sugar Ray Leonard, il y avait quelque chose de différent ausujet de Mayweather avant ce combat.
Son habituel trash talk et Sarrasins franc-parler a éténotablement absente. Certains ont dit que c’était les nerfsinhabituelle, d’autres une concentration extrême sur son plus grand défi jamais.
