Fans disappointed with fight outcome

MANNY Pacquiao may have pulled off yet another victory, but fight fans in Davao City were extremely disappointed at how the Filipino boxing star won his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight showdown Sunday.

Though the 31-year-old Pacquiao kept his welterweight crown after dominating his challenger from Ghana, Joshua Clottey, there was no drama behind the latest conquest of a fighter who had scored 38 knockouts in his career Sunday (Philippine time) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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There was no knockout win this time, something Filipino fans are accustomed to every time Pacquiao climbs the ring to face tough opponents.

"Manny won but many were disappointed that he failed to open and break Clottey's defense, which I described as The Great Wall of Ghana," Davao City Councilor Peter T. Laviña said.

"The biggest cheers were made when Manny threw a two-hand punch on booth ears of Clottey, but he was given a warning for the shot," added Laviña, who watched the fight at Barangay 38-D with village officials.

Even social networking site Facebook had shout-outs of disappointments.

A no-contest and a mismatch, the Facebook users were saying.

At the Casino Filipino inside the Grand Regal Hotel, fans who came as early as 7 a.m. just to watch the fight live on big screens were utterly dissatisfied with the result.

"It was a boring fight, no doubt about it. I was expecting a big victory for Manny Pacquiao, a knockout to be exact but it didn't came," one elderly man said as he was leaving his seat at the end of the bout.

"I'm still happy, though, that Manny Pacquiao won," he added.

There are others who even lost some cash as they placed bets for Pacquiao to win by a knockout within six rounds.

Pacquiao dominated Clottey all right, but he failed to score the knockout every Filipino fan had desired as the fight lasted the full 12 rounds.

"Kiss my money goodbye," another elderly man said.

Before the fight with Clottey, Pacquiao had annihilated the best fighters in the world. He made Oscar dela Hoya quit in his tool after the eight round, stopped Ricky Hatton with a single punch in the second round, and scored a 12th round TKO over Miguel Cotto in November last year. (CRAM)