[Photo: Manny Pacquiao of the Phillippines (L) packs a punch on Ricky Hatton.]

IT WAS A FIGHT that lasted less than six minutes.

But Manny Pacquiao's knockout victory will unite Filipinos in celebrations the world over for a very long time.

Streets in the Philippines were practically empty yesterday morning as millions of Filipinos were glued to television screens watching their boxing hero Manny Pacquiao defeat British boxer Ricky Hatton.

The 12-round bout for the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) light welterweight crown was held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, the United States, almost 12,000km away from the Southeast Asian country.

However, Pacquiao's fellow countrymen felt it close enough for them to witness the boxing icon's speed, strength and spirit.

President Gloria Arroyo, on an official visit in Egypt, was unable to watch the bout but took time to receive news of Pacquiao's victory, her spokesman Cerge Remonde said from Cairo.

'President Gloria Arroyo joins the entire nation in gratitude of God for the spectacular victory of our Manny Pacquiao,' Remonde said.

'Manny Pacquiao showed the world the best in the Filipino.'

The fight was short and sharp: Pacquiao knocked Hatton down twice in the first round, the first with a right, the second with a left hook, dominated the second and caught Hatton with a hammer blow of a left hook seven seconds before the round ended.

Hatton's eyes rolled back and he fell flat on his back. Referee Kenny Bayless knelt over him for several seconds, then waved his hands. The fight ended at 2:59 of round two.

'We found it incredulous that it was that fast,' Remonde said. 'We were really ecstatic. There was whooping in the delegation,' he added.

More than 10,000 people watched a free airing of the pay-per-view fight in Pacquiao's home town of General Santos city, while elsewhere in the Philippines, countless viewers - packed in front of screens in bars, parks, cinemas, restaurants and shopping malls - cheered heartily and threw their punches into the air as the Filipino superstar knocked out his rival.

Even Pacquiao, at a centimetre taller than his rival at 1.69m but weighing in a kilogramme less, himself said he did not expect the bout would come to an end so quickly.

'I didn't expect a short fight. He hit me hard. I was lucky to have hit him with a right hook. He was surprised with my right hand. Yes, he was strong, and I was careful not to be hit,' the Filipino told reporters after the bout.

Manny for President

'The fighter who'll bring down Manny hasn't been born yet,' said Melissa Palaran, who was selling corn cobs outside a Manila basketball stadium, where 15,000 Filipinos watched the match on six huge screens.

'Even the US president can't beat Pacquiao. Manny for president,' motorcycle taxi driver Jesus Guasis said.

Retired public school teacher Evangeline Fernandez, clasping a rosary, watched the bout for free in a government gymnasium in Manila's Tondo slum district.

She thanked Pacquiao for uniting the Filipinos even for six minutes and drawing the people's mind off long-nagging problems like government corruption.

'Thank you so much, Manny, for giving us a good name,' Fernandez said.

The amount of attention Pacquiao commands even resulted in an unofficial ceasefire between army troops and Muslim guerillas.

Major Randolph Cabangbang, a military spokesman in the restive south, said there was no incident between government soldiers and separatist rebels in the region yesterday morning.

Muslim rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said many members of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim guerilla group in the country's volatile south, trooped back to their communities to watch the bout. While ecstatic over the result, the rebels thought Pacquiao ended the fun too quickly.

'They came from the fields. They hadn't even warmed their seats and it was over,' Kabalu said.

'I wish our rebellion can be done as quickly,' Kabalu said.

Army soldiers gathered by the hundreds in military stadiums in the capital to support Pacquiao, who is a reserve officer.

Many policemen were warned not to leave their posts and told to settle for a replay of the bout, envying colleagues who were deployed to live telecasts in Manila stadiums to guard against pickpockets.

Wire Services