A fan of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao suffered a massive heart attack and died as his idol absorbed a beating and bled in the seventh round of his fight against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez Sunday.

Celedonio Dingle Sr., 73, of Barangay Nato, La Castellana, was watching the fight in Las Vegas that was being broadcast live on cable television, his son–in-law Nato Barangay Captain William Pendon said yesterday.

Dingle, a retired sugar farm worker, had gone to the La Castellana town proper to watch the fight at the house of his son in-in-law Julio Gonzales, who has cable TV, Pendon told the DAILY STAR.

He did not want to watch the fight in Barangay Nato because the fight was not being aired live on the channel available on his television, Pendon said. Dingle wanted to watch the fight on cable TV where it would be uninterrupted by commercials.

At the house of Gonzales, Dingle jumped up and down when Pacquiao knocked Marquez down in the third round and cheered his idol on until the sixth round. But in the seventh round Dingle said he was not feeling well and sat down on the sofa, Pendon said.

Dingle’s relatives then noticed that he had become pale and slumped on to the sofa, Pendon told DYEZ Aksyon Radyo. They rushed him to the clinic of Dr. Enrico Elumba in the La Castellana town proper but after an hour of attempts of resuscitate him he was declared dead, Pendon said.

Dingle did not live to see Pacquio win the World Boxing Council super featherweight title Sunday.*CPG

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