By Ronnie Nathanielsz

FILIPINOS in Britain, including some members of the Philippine Embassy, have given Manny Pacquiao a rousing reception in Manchester, the hometown of Ricky Hatton.

At an intended fan rally at the Trafford Center, where Hatton supporters showed up to cheer and sing for the International Boxing Organization light welterweight champion, some 2,000 Filipinos, who came from all over Britain, stole the show, according to Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening news.

?They shouted and cheered their man, who had God-like status among his people,? said Brennan.

Pacquiao was clearly overwhelmed by the reception and thanked the fans for turning out in the thousands on his first visit to England.

The ever-smiling champion made no boastful remarks, only stating: ?The fight will be a great challenge because Ricky is a great fighter. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime fight, the kind you only see once in boxing history.?

In contrast, Hatton said that being unbeaten at 140 pounds gives him a crucial advantage. ?This is a fight between two nice men, but there is nothing nice about me or Manny when we get inside the ring. We?re both aggressive and while some other fighters have been worried about him, he certainly won?t worry me.?

The two fighters, who clash in the ?Battle of East and West? at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2, smiled and laughed as they met for the first time before some 6,000 fight fans and a band that rallied behind Hatton.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was not surprised at the number of Filipinos, who showed up. ?When Manny goes into the ring, he fights for 90 million people in his country and the 10 million Filipinos, who live around the world. He is a tremendous athlete and unlike any other we have ever promoted.?

Hatton, who resumed training two weeks ago after returning from a Caribbean cruise with his family, revealed in a conversation with Steve Lillis of the News of the World, that when he was on vacation, he was even goaded by several Filipino waiters. ?They laughed at me because they think I have no chance. They won?t be laughing next when I go back on the boat. I won?t be second best when I challenge for the world pound-for-pound title.?

As expected, the fighters were decent to each other but their trainers Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Freddie Roach were not, trading cutting remarks from day one and carrying their word war into Britain.