Netizen Nicko Talavera doused cold water on those making a big issue out of the photo used by ABS-CBN News in one of its posts about the fight between Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Yordenis Ugas, explaining that the post of the news organization is factual and common in sports journalism.

“These are all factual. Manny was defeated via unanimous decision. Natumba siya sa pic, nobody claims he was knocked down, this is just part of their series of coverage with the available pics from the AFP,” he said on his Facebook post.

The controversial photo shows the Filipino boxing legend down on the canvass as his opponent from Cuba looked on. The photograph was taken by Patrick T. Fallon of the news wire agency Agence France Presse (AFP) and was also used by other media such as the Philippine Star and GMA News in their own posts.

Philippine Star post:

GMA News post:

The caption of ABS-CBN News said, “DEFEATED. Manny Pacquiao bows to Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas with a unanimous decision loss on Sunday (Manila time) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. #PacquiaoUgas Photo by Patrick T. Fallon, Agence France-Presse” with a link to the full news report on ABS-CBN News Digital.

ABS-CBN News post:

Talavera said the post was neither misleading nor disrespectful, as some bashers commented. He also emphasized that ABS-CBN News’ post is not the same as GMA News’ congratulatory post for Pacquiao, which some used to compare how the two news organizations reported about the fight.

“Natalo naman talaga siya, and the use of “DEFEATED” sa lede for caps is very good. While the other one from GMA is just a congratulatory post, that’s another topic to begin with dahil depende na ito sa socmed producer. Minsan before the event, may nakaready nang GFX na ganyan yung iba for digital (talo and panalong ver.) kasi mahirap isabay sa breaking. At hindi ‘yan news reporting. (Though GMA, of course, has its own news story for this with the same angle na Pacquiao was defeated) Sa dalawa dito, ‘yung sa ABSCBN ang news reporting since it contains the details,” he explained.

Talavera then schooled the bashers, saying that one cannot sugarcoat a defeat in sports journalism, citing a similar issue during the height of the Tokyo Olympics where some also complained to various media outfits on how they reported on the losses of Filipino athletes.

“Hindi pambobola ang sports journalism. If he was defeated, that means he was defeated. The story will be about him being defeated by Ugas. Wala nang iba. There is nothing wrong with ABS-CBN’s content,” he said.

Fellow netizens thanked Talavera in the comment section for his clear explanation of the matter, while others said the post deserved a share button. As of 1 pm of August 23, his post already has 18,000 shares and 30,000 reactions, just 16 hours after it was posted.