Avel Manansala, a City Hall consultant, said Pacquiao could have floored his opponent in earlier rounds but his being “business savvy prevailed.”
“Obviously, Larios was dog food to Manny. Pacman held the fight on to give his countrymen and sponsors a good time,” he said.
Filipino communities in Los Angeles, California erupted in cheers as the winner of the Pacquiao-Larios “mano a mano” fight in Manila was announced, a resident who is presently vacationing there, said by phone.
“The Mexican crowd in the neighborhood looks solemn because of the defeat of their countryman. On the other hand, Filipinos are dancing, eating and drinking,” said Julius Valmores, head of the Public Information Office here.
Valmores said Filipinos abroad gathered and viewed the fight through the pay-per-view scheme.
“It was expected,” a relative of Pacquiao’s wife, Jinky, said of Pacquiao’s victory.
Bronx Hebrona, a consultant of a local mining firm, however saluted the Mexican fighter.
He said Pacquiao “underestimated Larios’s preparation. The latter was a brave and a strong boxer but Manny’s punches were more powerful.”
Rey Golingan, local president of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, noted that Pacquiao “ was not in his best boxing form.”
“I predicted that Larios would not last the distance and be floored between the sixth to eight rounds,” said Golingan, a close friend of Pacquiao who saw him rise from amateur to professional boxing.
“It was a different Manny that I saw in the ring fighting. He was not his old boxing self like when he fought [Erik] Morales,” he said.
Golingan said Pacquiao had many chances to knock down Larios immediately.
Golingan suspects the boxer may have been troubled by the financial aspects of the bout which he reportedly promoted.
He advised the fighter to detach himself from business and just concentrate on his boxing career if he wants to last in the industry.
Prior to the fight, the streets of this city were almost deserted as people were either in their homes or in carinderias, restaurants and other commercial establishments waiting for the fight of their hometown hero.
Vehicle traffic resumed moments after live broadcast of the fight ended.
Pacquiao is expected to receive yet another hero’s welcome here. (MindaNews)