Former foe Marco Antonio Barrera attended, and held his right hand high to confer a prayer and blessing for Pacquiao, then the former made the sign of the cross.
Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey made thunderous entrances in a raucous crowd at Cowboys Stadium, estimated at over 50,000.
The stadium was a sight to behold.
Ringside, several rows back, with Examiner.com colleague Michael Marley, the crowd cheers seemingly echoed and reverberated against the roof and walls to further amplify the noise.
According to Bob Arum at the post-fight press conferences, it was the third largest boxing draw in history for an indoor setting.
Pacquiao cruised to a unanimous decision victory, as the Filipino idol successfully defended his WBO welterweight crown.
Pacquiao now focuses his attention on campaigning for Congress in the upcoming May elections. In an after-fight interview, trainer Freddie Roach expressed his interest in a showdown with undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
The defensive-minded Clottey allowed little openings, but himself suffered a landslide loss in the judges' scorecard due to Pacquiao's sheer workrate. CompuBox estimated that the Filipino threw more than 1,200 punches.
At the post-fight conference, I asked Joshua Clottey: "If you could fight this fight all over again, would you do anything differently?" The classy fighter answered that he did his best tonight. That Pacquiao was just too fast.
As the Ghanaian fielded questions from the press, there was a heartbroken sadness in his voice. It was as if he was thinking that he failed his country and his people against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
"I did my best," he said. He fought with pride and honor.
Clottey felt that he won against Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto. "I lost for the first time and it was against Manny Pacquiao."
Jerry Jones expressed his hope that more fights will be showcased in his stadium. It IS the eighth wonder of the world.
And it hosted both a Filipino legend and an honorable Ghanaian.
'Air Pacquiao' leaves for Los Angeles on Sunday. The Pacman sang his hearts out at the post-fight concert which ended at 3 am in the morning.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
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