Filipinos cry foul over Pacquiao’s loss to Mayweather

­Boxing fans in the Philippines cried foul and groaned in bitter disappointment  last Sunday as national hero Manny Pacquiao lost to American rival Floyd Mayweather in the "fight of the century".

Filipinos filled gymnasiums, cinemas and bars as the Southeast Asian nation of 100 million people stopped for Pacquiao's battle with Mayweather in Las Vegas, which he lost in a unanimous points decision.

A devastated Pacquiao said immediately afterwards that he thought he had won, and many at home agreed with him as they lashed out at the judges while heaping praise on their inspiration.

"Pacquiao was cheated. Mayweather didn't land a single solid punch," cable television technician Romeo Rivera, 41, told AFP.

Rivera was among thousands of mostly poor people who had gathered in the main public square of Manila's Marikina suburb to watch the battle on a giant screen mounted on the back of a flat-bed truck.

In the southern port city of Zamboanga, loud boos echoed inside an army gymnasium where thousands of soldiers and their relatives watched Pacquiao, who suffered the sixth defeat of his career.

"The decision was unfair. From the start, the commentators were for Manny. Everyone is disappointed," Lieutenant Colonel Noel Precioso said as others nearby expressed similar sentiments.

Even the nation's military chief, General Gregorio Catapang, weighed in with emotional comments immediately afterwards.

"I think the decision was not fair. Like Manny said, he thought he was ahead with points. Both fought carefully but Manny was more aggressive. He was hitting Floyd," Catapang said.