GMA urges Pacquiao to pursue protest on verdict

It was a mere opinion.

Team Pacquiao yesterday played down the reported denial of its protest on the controversial split draw decision Manny Pacquiao got from his featherweight clash with IBF/WBA champion Juan Manuel Marquez over the weekend, saying it was merely an opinion of an attorney general of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and not the official stand of the NSAC.

"The fight is not yet over," said Pacquiao’s business manager Rod Nazario during a courtesy call on President Arroyo at the Malacañang Heroes Hall yesterday.

He was referring to the protest Team Pacquiao lodged earlier urging the NSAC to correct judge Burt Clements’ scoring error that decided the outcome of the highly-rated fight in Las Vegas.

In fact, President Arroyo encouraged Team Pacquiao to pursue the case to the very end and seek a reversal of the decision even as she reiterated her full support to the cause of the Filipino boxing champion.

"For you, Manny, congratulations. You are a champion and we believe in your second championship and we believe and pray that you win your protest," President Arroyo said.

The Chief Executive gave her commitment during the thanksgiving luncheon she hosted at the Palace for her campaign supporters like Pacquiao, who appeared in one of her political ad campaigns on television.

"We are each other’s champion," President Arroyo told Pacquiao while raising each other’s arms in a photo opportunity.

She cited that a victory for Pacquiao in the contested decision is not only a vindication for him but a vindication and justice for the Filipino people who rooted for him back home during the title match.

The President said Pacquiao, 25, deserved his honor as Filipino Athlete of the Year and a "world class" worker like the rest of the Filipinos working abroad.

Pacquiao’s US promoter Murad Muhammad leaves for the United States today, bringing with him a personal letter stating the position of President Arroyo on the case.

Brian Sandoval, attorney general of NSAC, on Thursday wrote Lamont Jones, who represents Pacquiao and M&M Sports, informing him that the NSAC will take no action on Team Pacquiao’s protest, stressing that "Nevada law states that there is no protest procedure to challenge or overturn a decision rendered in a boxing match based on mere allegations."

"Opinion lang naman ng attorney general yun. It was a premature one since they haven’t conducted a formal investigation on the case," said Nazario. "The protest goes on. We will ask for a thorough investigation."

Nazario said Jones had sent a letter to the NSAC in reaction to Sandoval’s opinion.

Earlier, Muhammad said it is within commission executive director Marc Ratner’s jurisdiction to correct the error. He described the blunder as technical and mathematical. Clements, who represented the commission in the three-man jury, is from Reno, Nevada.

Admitting he "screwed up," Clements confessed he made a mistake in scoring 10-7, instead of 10-6, for Pacquiao in the first round where Marquez was decked thrice. Had Ratner corrected the error, Clements’ scorecard will tally 113-112 for Pacquiao and the Filipino will win by split decision.