Pacquiao’s LA fans whoop it up

LOS ANGELES — By the time the excited mob carried Manny Pacquiao on their shoulders in a frenzied celebration at the Thomas &Mack Center in Las Vegas, Filipinos all over the United States hailed probably the greatest triumph of his colorful career.

A group of Filipino professionals, musicians, seamen and physical therapists in a suburb in Los Angeles unraveled into a wildly-cheering batch oozing with passion and joy when the Filipino boxing icon was ruled winner by TKO.

There was the incessant ringing of cell phones as kin and relatives back home hungered for details of the unfolding bout. But Filipinos here were pleasantly surprised when they found out that their folk back home knew about the outcome of the fight within seconds after the TKO through pay-per-view.

"They were celebrating in Iloilo doubly happy there, what with the Dinagyang festival," said Rene Mendoza in thick Visayan accent.

The sister of another boxing enthusiast from Canlubang, Laguna — Del Gonzales — fired swift text messages at the end of the every round, but was surprised to learn that they knew the result as soon as Morales was ruled out on the canvas.

Most of the Filipino homes in North Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale and other suburban areas in LA were hooked up to the action in Las Vegas paying $41 pay-per-view while most Filipino community-based papers like Ang Peryodiko, Taliba and Weekend Balita carried numerous stories on the run-up to the fight and on the day of "The Battle."

Light beers and pulutan — finger foods — flowed on a sumptuous table in the home of one of Pacquiao’s avid followers here — Raffy Mendoza in Granada Hills — since early Saturday evening.

And the crowd there of close to 20 people toasted, cheered and became increasingly raucous as Pacquiao began to seize control in the middle rounds.

When the boxing hero brought down the visibly spent Morales with a flurry of blows in the 10th round, the group dissolved into a ball of joy and cheers for the Filipino champ.

"Nothing can beat this one – the happiness Manny brings to the Filipinos. Forget politics. Forget GMA. Forget all the problems back home," said Mendoza.