Karen Flores, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/lifestyle2/04/14/piamanny_041416.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao chats with Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach. Facebook.com/realbbpilipinas</div></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach had the opportunity to meet boxing champ Manny Pacquiao on Thursday, shortly before her press conference with Binibining Pilipinas at Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Quezon City.</p><p>The Filipina beauty queen received a pair of pink boxing gloves from Pacquiao. “It was Miss Universe pink! I love that color,” she said.</p><p>It can be recalled that in May 2015, Wurtzbach vowed to “avenge” Pacquiao after losing to American boxer Floyd Mayweather in the widely hyped “Fight of the Century”.</p><p>(READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/05/03/15/pia-wurtzbach-babawi-tayo-sa-miss-universe"><strong>Pia Wurtzbach: Babawi tayo sa Miss Universe</strong></a>)</p><p>True to her word, she emerged as the winner of the 64th Miss Universe pageant held last December.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="6" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:62.4537037037% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><div style="margin:8px 0 0 0;padding:0 4px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BEKsFN2Od7n/" style="color:#000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none;word-wrap:break-word" target="_blank">Photo with Miss Universe @piawurtzbach #proudtobePinoy 🇵🇭</a></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap">A photo posted by Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) on <time dateTime="2016-04-14T04:19:25+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Apr 13, 2016 at 9:19pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="~//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Recalling the time she posted the controversial “tweet,” Wurtzbach said: “Hindi ako nagbibiro noong nag-tweet ako… Naku, kung nalaman niyo lang po ‘yung itsura ko noong panahon na ‘yon. Nasa Cagayan de Oro po ako, I was at the edge of my seat in tears.”</p><p>“I was so sad, disheartened, angry, disappointed. It’s Filipino pride! I want our Manny Pacquiao, our Pacman, to win so bad. I’m a big fan of his. So when he didn’t make it, I took my phone out, emotionally tweeting – I’m never doing it again, think before you click – and I said, ‘kalma lang guys, babawi tayo sa Miss Universe.’ Of course, I had some backlash for that.”</p><p>Wurtzbach said she told Pacquiao about it, and the boxer replied, “Oo, alam ko ‘yan.”</p><p>“And then he (Pacquiao) was telling me how emotional they were ng asawa niya, si Ms. Jinkee, noong first runner-up ako initially, but then eventually announced as the winner. Na para bang roller coaster of emotions!” she recalled.</p><p>Wurtzbach was mistakenly named first runner-up by host Steve Harvey, with Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez proclaimed Miss Universe. Harvey returned on stage minutes later to apologize for the mix-up.</p><p>(READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/01/06/16/steve-harvey-speaks-up-on-miss-universe-gaffe"><strong>Steve Harvey speaks up on Miss Universe gaffe</strong></a>)</p><div><strong>Huge fan</strong></div><p>Wurtzbach admitted that she is a huge fan of Pacquiao but was quick to add that she only admires him as a boxer.</p><div class="containing-block"><div class="outer-container"><div style="display:none"> </div><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object class="BrightcoveExperience" id="myExperience4844724359001"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"/><param name="width" value="510"/><param name="height" value="340"/><param name="playerID" value="1880751799001"/><param name="playerKey" value="AQ~~,AAABtXvbPVE~,ZfNKKkFP3R9qoEvgz2KMCs8gaY-UGBkT"/><param name="isVid" value="true"/><param name="isUI" value="true"/><param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true"/><param name="@videoPlayer" value="4844724359001"/></object><script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script></div></div><p>Pacquiao, who is running for senator under Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, drew flak last February for his inflammatory comments on couples in same-sex relationships.</p><p>(READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/19/16/pacquiao-refuses-to-back-down-on-gay-slurs"><strong>Pacquiao refuses to back down on gay slurs</strong></a>)</p><p>“I was very happy to be in his presence earlier… Even up to this day, I’m still a fan of him as a boxer. Although we might have different opinions on some things,” she said.</p><p>“But we’re both Filipinos and as a fellow Filipino, I am proud of his victory for the Philippines,” she ended.</p><p>On Sunday, April 17, Wurtzbach will pass on her crown to the country’s next representative to the Miss Universe pageant.</p>

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach had the opportunity to meet boxing champ Manny Pacquiao on Thursday, shortly before her press conference with Binibining Pilipinas at Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Quezon City. 

Pia Wurtzbach on Pacquiao: I admire him as a boxer

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Pia Wurtzbach on Pacquiao: I admire him as a boxer

Karen Flores,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 14, 2016 05:45 PM PHT

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Updated Apr 15, 2016 12:08 PM PHT

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