Catriona Gray, Manny Pacquiao

Reigning Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, 25, and World Boxing Association Welterweight Champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao, 40, are two of the Filipinos giving pride to the Philippines today. They were both at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on July 20, 20219 for “Welterweight Supremacy.”

As the WBA Regular World Welterweight Champion, Pacquiao fought WBA Super World Welterweight Champion Keith “One Time” Thurman, 30, of the United States at “Welterweight Supremacy.” In the main event, they competed for the unification of the WBA Welterweight Championship title.

Kenny Bayless served as the referee while Jose Oliver Gomez was the supervisor. After 12 rounds, the bout was left in the hands of the judges namely Dave Moretti, Glenn Feldman and Leslie Cheatham.

Both Moretti and Cheatham scored the bout 115-112 in favor of Pacquiao while Feldman scored in 113-114 in favor of Thurman. In the end, Bayless raised the hand of the Filipino boxer, who was declared the winner via split decision.

Winning at “Welterweight Supremacy” improved the professional boxing record of Pacquiao to 62 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws. He broke the undefeated record of Thurman, who now has 29 wins and 1 loss.

Including Pacquiao, four Filipino boxers competed at “Welterweight Supremacy.” The other three namely John Leo “The Lion” Dato, 26, Genisis “Cobra” Lagumbay Libranza, 25, and Jay-ar “Hitman” Inson, 28, competed on the undercard.

Both Libranza and Inson are from Davao City, Davao del Sur, Philippines while Dato is from Bangar, La Union, Philippines. Libranza knocked out  Carlos “Mighty” Maldonado, 28, of Los Angeles, California, USA in the flyweight division and Dato knocked out Juan Antonio “The Wolf” Lopez, 25, of Dallas, Texas, USA in the featherweight division while Inson was knocked out by Sergey “Samurai” Lipinets, 30, of Russia in the welterweight division.

The MGM Arena was filled with loud and proud Filipinos. One of them was Gray, who was seen literally waving the Philippine flag.

Gray hails from Oas, Albay, Philippines while Pacquiao is from General Santos City, South Cotabato, Philippines. Meanwhile, here is a clip featuring the Filipino boxing legend and his coach Freddie Roach: