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Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Manny remains a hero, champion despite loss to Mayweather – Tabak officials

By Gideon C. Corgue

LABANGAN, Zamboanga del Sur – Despite his loss to undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is still the hero and champion in the eyes of the officers and men of the 1st Infantry (Tabak) division, Philippine Army.

Pacquaio lost to Mayweather in their welterweight mega fight on Saturday dubbed “The Battle for Greatness” held at MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather beat Manny in scores after the three judges gave 118-110, 116-112 and another 116-112 in favor of the American boxer.
Lt. Col. Audie Mongao, commanding officer of the 1st Civil-Military Operations battalion said during the live viewing of Pacquiao-Mayweather fight at the Tabak gym, “Manny is still the people’s champ.”
Mongao said: “We know that he did his best to provide a good show for sports fans around the world” adding “the officers, enlisted personnel, dependents and guests who watched the fight thought Pacquiao won because he was more aggressive in the ring than Mayweather.”  
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Alvin Luzon, commanding officer of 53rd Infantry battalion based in Guipos town, said the unit had also set up a giant screen to give the troopers free public viewing on Pacquaiao-Mayweather fight.

Luzon said it had been a tradition of the unit to provide a live viewing of Pacquaiao’s fight to the troopers, as a gesture of support to the “People’s Champ” and for the soldiers not to go out of the camp.

Asked about his reaction to Pacquaiao’s loss, Luzon said, “win or lose, Pacquiao is a hero to every Filipino. He is our inspiration. He has brought much honors to our country and has made millions of people around the world happy.”

In a related development, retired BGen. Muhammad Nur Askalani, a guest from Zamboanga City, said he admired the troopers’ initiative for setting up a giant screen for them to watch live telecast of the mega-bout between Pacquaio and Mayweather Jr. for free.

Askalani, a sports enthusiast along with 30 members of tennis delegation arrived Sunday upon the invitation of Tabak commander BGen. Gerardo Barrientos Jr. to join the tournament, which is one of the lined up activities for the division’s founding anniversary on May 5.

Askalani said, “at first we were hesitant to join the tourney because the day falls on the scheduled Pacquiao and Mayweather fight until we learned that a live public viewing woud be done at the headquarters for us not to miss the chance of watching the great fight.”

More than a thousand officers, enlisted personnel, dependents and guests watched the much-awaited fight of the century.