ABU DHABI // From the UAE to the Philippines, there was jubilation among Manny Pacquiao’s legion of fans as he signed off his boxing career with a victory in the early hours on Sunday.
Many venues organised screenings of the fight, in which Pacquiao, 37, beat Timothy Bradley on points in Las Vegas to regain the WBO welterweight title.
At the Resto Pinoy in Khalidiyah, fans began arriving at 6.30am to watch the event on large screens in the restaurant.
There was jumping and clapping, cheering and shouting as Pacquiao, a hero in his homeland, easily overcame Bradley by knocking him down twice to gain an unanimous points decision.
“My favourite moment from the match was when Bradley fell,” said Jonelson Bayani, a Filipino who works for an electronics company in Abu Dhabi.
“The match was good but not very good,” he said. “I felt that Pacquiao was playing safe because he is retiring.”
Mr Bayani said the atmosphere in his home country for Pacquiao’s fights was very different to that in the UAE.
“We watch it on the streets with our family and other people,” he said.
Francis San Diego, the manager of Resto Pinoy, said that the crowd of about 50 to 60 people was not as large for Pacquiao’s previous fight, in which he lost against Floyd Mayweather in May last year.
Davina Montero, one of the few women in the crowd, had dropped her children off at school before heading to the restaurant.
“I’m a big fan of Pacquiao and support him — he is the pride of the Philippines,” she said.
She was disappointed with the contest, despite her hero’s victory.
“We have watched better matches from Pacquiao,” said Ms Montero.
Expat Rey Alo said the match was very special because it was Pacquiao’s last.
The massage therapist, who has been living in UAE for 10 years, said he liked to watch Pacquiao’s matches in the company of his countrymen rather than at home.
In the Philippines, the bout was shown in cinemas, parks and army bases.
Ms Montero said that in her home country, the crime rate and traffic congestion fall whenever Pacquiao fights because so many people just stop what they are doing to watch him.
Pacquiao, who won 10 world titles across a record eight weight divisions during his 66 fights, has retired to follow a career in politics.
He is running for a seat in the Philippine senate, with latest opinion polls showing him in 10th place for 12 vacant seats in the upper house of congress.
arizvi2@thenational.ae
