Boxing fans round on TV host after Manny Pacquiao interview

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/03/boxing-fans-round-on-tv-host-after-pacquiao-interview

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With the most hotly anticipated fight for years ending with an unpopular unanimous decision in favour of Floyd Mayweather, you couldn’t fault Manny Pacquiao, his opponent, for arguing the toss.

But after one post-match interviewer did just that, he has attracted the ire of the social media users of a whole nation.

Thousands of Filipinos – and Americans, for that matter – took to Twitter to vent their anger at Max Kellerman, the HBO host, after he apparently tried to persuade Pacquiao he deserved to lose.

His line of questioning has not gone down well in the Philippines, where Pacquiao is admired as a sporting hero and national treasure.

But yeah Max Kellerman better never plan a visit to the Philippines....

@MaxKellerman_ Respect begets respect. U made the #FilipinoCommunity mad with ur unprofessionalism and biased questions. Goodluck w/ career.

since a rematch is almost out of the question, can we get @MannyPacquiao to fight @Max_Kellerman nxt? #DiMakaMoveOn #douchebagoftheyear

@Max_Kellerman : you were paid to interview. not give your own opinions. watch your interview again and tell the world you werent rude.

@Max_Kellerman shut up you arrogant disrespectful idiot

@Max_Kellerman Show some R. E. S. P. E. C. T. !

A panel of three had Mayweather continue his unbeaten record at 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110 but, in the minutes after the final bell on Saturday night in Las Vegas, jeers threatened to drown out Mayweather’s victory speech.

But when Pacquiao insisted he believed he’d won, Kellerman didn’t stop an apparent note of incredulity creeping into his response. “You thought you won the fight? Why?” he asked, before haranguing the tired fighter with his own assessment of the bout – which seemed squarely in favour of the American.

Slowing his words in a way some viewers interpreted as patronising, Kellerman continued: “But he had to be hitting you with something because you weren’t attacking him with the same kind of ferocity that we sometimes see you attack. Was he not doing something to keep you off?”

He went on: “He seemed to catch you with some good right hands early in the fight, did you feel his power?” Then, finally, he added: “So you’re saying you thought you were up in the fight and that’s why you didn’t step up the pace in the 11th and 12th rounds.”

Pacquiao seemed flummoxed by the direct line of questioning, and even this usually unfailingly polite competitor betrayed his annoyance by the end of the interview. His answers dwindled to monosyllables, and his face fell from his usual affable smile to a disappointed glare.

Kellerman, described on the HBO website as “one of the most respected analysts in the sport of boxing”, answered criticism from Pacquiao’s fans on Twitter shortly after the storm began brewing. He insisted he was simply following the best in journalistic practice.

.@MannyPacquiao fans: I love Manny. He's pleasure to deal with & to watch fight. Manny disagreed w/judges. Had to ask him about it. #MayPac