Muslims, Christians lose bets on Manny

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Philippines – Filipino boxing legend Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao may have emerged the winner in yesterday’s bout with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey but many of his Muslim and Christian fans lost bets anyway.

Pacquiao had failed to nail down Clottey that saw many of his fans losing their money in betting he would score a knockout in the early rounds.

The fight went the distance with Pacquiao winning by unanimous decision.

Since most fight fans were unwilling to risk money on Clottey, many resorted to betting on Pacquiao winning by knockout in the early rounds.

“Pacquiao won but I lost money. I lost because Manny failed to knock out Clottey within six rounds,” said a fan, Resty who claimed losing P15,000 in a bet.

Twenty other fans also lost bets ranging from P500 to P2,000.

“I never expected that Manny would fail to knock out Clottey within the first to sixth rounds considering his power punches,” said another fan who lost P500.

Most winners in the fight were “wagers,” meaning they bet that Manny would win regardless of the round.

In Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat, retired major general Jerry Jalandoni said he became frustrated with the fight.

“It was not a good show considering Clottey always put up a defense without allowing Pacquiao to attack,” he said.

Jalandoni said Clottey successfully dealt with the power and speed of Pacquiao by putting up a solid defense.

As in past Pacquiao bouts, streets in the cities and municipalities of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City (Socsksargen) area were mostly empty.

Few motorists and pedestrians were on the streets as people stayed home to follow the bout on television at home or on the big screen.

The Central Mindanao police command said no untoward incidents were reported during the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.

Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna, regional director of the Central Mindanao police command, said the entire Socsksargen area and the region were relatively peaceful during the fight.

“What you can (only) hear are those screams of the watchers inside the pay-per-view establishments and air-conditioned theaters, and roadside eateries,” Cataluna said.

He said the police reported no untoward incidents in pay-per-view venues during the fight.

It was a relatively quiet day for policemen on duty who could only watch the fight on television inside police precincts.