-
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/11 June) – A few minutes after ring announcer Michael Buffer announced the shocking result of Pacquiao-Bradley fight, a 64-year-old man here watching the live bout over cable TV suffered a heart attack.
Bienvenido Perez, of Martinez compound in Poblacion 4 here, was rushed to the nearest hospital but failed to reach there alive due to severe heart failure.
Angel “Gigi” Perez, the victim’s second son, said his father had just come from upstairs after changing his T-shirt when he suddenly felt the heart pain.
“Maybe he felt so disappointed. I was with him that time, when suddenly he felt uncomfortable and experienced chest pain. We immediately rushed him to the hospital but that was too late,” Gigi said.
Gigi said his father was a die-hard fan of the Filipino ring icon even during the start of the Pacquiao’s career.
One thing he remarked during the Pacquiao-Bradley fight was that Pacquiao was not wearing his traditional rosary necklet.
“Maybe he lost because he was not using anymore his propitious rosary that was his amulet,” Gigi quoted his father’s last words on Pacquiao.
Despite the double tragic incident – Pacquiao’s loss and his father’s death – Gigi said the Perez family will remain a supporter and are asking for a rematch.
Gigi described his father as a loving and responsible forebear who raised a family of six siblings as a truck driver and a “makabayan” (nationalist) who during his last breath supported the Filipino boxing hero. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)