OFWs furious, shocked over Manny loss

MANILA, Philippines - There was an overwhelming feeling of shock and dismay among fans over what they felt was a questionable split decision loss suffered by Manny Pacquiao at the hands of Timothy Bradley Jr.

“Nakakalungkot. Parang nasindikato (It’s disheartening; the final scores looked manipulated),” said Gerry Lopez, a cook at a restaurant in Quezon City.

His supervisor, Alma Parcon agreed. “Dapat isoli ni Bradley yung belt. Hindi siya karapat-dapat (Bradley should return the belt for he’s not worthy of it).”

Overseas Filipino workers who got up in the wee hours to watch the fight live in PPV were furious when Michael Buffer announced Bradley’s ascension to the WBO welterweight throne.

“Galing ng result. 253 punches landed (for Pacquiao) versus 169 (for Bradley). Talo pa rin (Unbelievable result. Pacquiao landed more punches and was clearly the aggressor but still lost),” said Dubai-based Jonathan Maaño.

“Bad trip ang lahat ng Pinoy dito sa Benghazi, Libya. Gumising kami ng 5 a.m. para manood ng magandang laban. Hayun ang result. Highway robbery! (Pinoys in Libya are angry. We woke up 5 a.m. to see a good fight and look at the result – a highway robbery),” said Rodolfo Foz Jr., a senior material specialist with Oil and Gas Company in Libya.

Still, there were others who could live with the unexpected result.

“Parang nabawasan ang bangis ni Pacquiao, nakita rin siguro yun ng judges (Pacquiao seems to have lost a bit of his fiery self so the judges seem unimpressed),” said student JM Cruz.

Newspaper dealer Bogs Garcia couldn’t help but think about “karma” getting into play. “Ganyan din ang nangyari kay Marquez so bawi-bawi lang (That’s what Marquez experienced in his fight with Pacquiao and now it happened to him),” he said, referring to Pacquiao’s controversial victories over Juan Manuel Marquez. 

Some, like Azkals skipper Aly Borromeo, felt this had a business side to it.

“(Promoter Bob) Arum made this happen. Money making as usual. Politics in sports stinks,” he tweeted.

“Mukhang hindi pa man nag-start ang laban, may rematch na (It seems a rematch has been set even before fight started),” said Eduardo Ogriman from GMA, Cavite.

Pacquiao-Bradley 2 is reportedly set in November with Bradley bragging a replica of the ticket days before the match.

“Kahit wag na si Bradley uli, wala na dapat patunayan si Pacquiao dun. Si Mayweather na lang labanan niya (Forget about Bradley, he has nothing to prove against him. Take on Mayweather instead),” said Reginaldo Endaya of Zagu, referring to the Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. megabout that every fight fan dreams of finally seeing.