Manny Pacquiao fires up fans wrapping his hands on Facebook Live before fight
Read about the latest sports tech news, innovations, ideas and products that impact players, fans and the sports industry at SportTechie.com.
Manny Pacquiao and Facebook Live have established quite the relationship.
In fact, Facebook Live recently brought the public into Pacquiao’s dressing room before his return to the ring when he eventually regained the WBO welterweight championship after beating Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision last month.
Subscribe to the
SportTechie Newsletter
- Adam Schefter signs extension with ESPN; announces podcast, NBA role
- Sling TV goes head-to-head with Playstation Vue
- Under Armour partners with fishing app
The live-stream showed Pacquiao wrapping his hands and a view of his mental preparation for the fight.
The pre-fight Facebook Live stream generated more than 5.8 million views.
The boxer uses Facebook’s video capabilities as a “feed” for his fans to tune into his training routines, and he has been an avid user of Facebook’s video capabilities even before Facebook Live came into fruition.
He used Facebook in a different manner in the wake of his comments in a February television interview in which he said gay people were “worse than animals.”
“I am humbling myself before you and before God for my mistake,” he said in the video posted on social media.
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” read the Facebook post accompanying the video. “Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you.”