SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS: PACQUIAO VS.

BRADLEY

BY
11-OBADIAH GROUP 2
Antonio, John Carlo, B.
Cañaveral, Earl Jay, B.
Dalag, Marielle Fate, S.
Delas Alas, Gayle Anne, D.
Esposo, Hermioney Lorraine, U.
Galvan, Ranselle, N.
Gonzales, Reyben, T
 SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

LENS: Manny Pacquiao's boxing supporters.

EXPLANATION: For our Semiotic Analysis, our topic focuses on the boxing fight between Bradley and Manny
Pacquiao, wherein Manny Pacquiao is depicted by his contender. Thus, our group decided to focus on the lens
of Manny Pacquiao's boxing supporters, who watched the said fight. We choose to target the lens of this
audience since they are connected to the fight of Manny Pacquiao on that day. We also choose them because
our study aims to know the perception and opinions of Manny Pacquiao supporters about the said event.

SIGN#1: Shocked faces of Manny Pacquiao's supporters.

SIGNIFIER: Icon

EXPLANATION: We use the shocked faces of Manny Pacquiao's supporters as one of our signs needed to
make a Semiotic Analysis, and this sign is fitted to categories as an Icon because the shocked faces of the
supporter can be used as signifiers that Manny Pacquiao was defeated by Timothy Bradley.

POSSIBLE MEANING EXPLANATION

Literal Meaning We consider the "shocked face" of Manny Pacquiao

supporters as our "literal" because we can easily
understand how Manny's supporters were shocked
at how their boxer idol was defeated by the other
boxer based on their reaction. We consider this to be
"literal" because it is the literal material content of the
newspaper at the time, as well as the "literal"
reaction of Manny Pacquiao fans.

Relative Meaning The shocked faces of Manny Pacquiao’s supporters

are the emotions that we can see during the
announcement that he lost the fight.If we look
through the lens of Pacquio supporters it might be a
symbol that they were shocked by the decision of the
judges. But if we look at the lens of the people that
dislike boxing, those emotions are normal if their
idols are beaten by the opponent.
Socio-Cultural Meaning If we put ourselves in the shoes of Manny Pacquiao
supporters and saw the shocked expressions on
their faces, we would presume that something
unexpected occurred. That is why we conclude that
this is our socio-cultural because it is how people
saw something and formed their viewpoints about it.

SIGN#2: Color of boxing attire of Manny Pacquiao.

SIGNIFIER: Symbols

EXPLANATION: We use the color of the attire of Manny Pacquiao as one of our signs needed to make a
Semiotic Analysis. This sign is fitted to categories as a Symbol because the colors of his attire signifies the
flag of his country which is the Philippines.

POSSIBLE MEANING EXPLANATION

Literal Meaning The “literal” meaning of the color of Manny

Pacquiao’s boxing attire refers to the color and
design of what he was actually wearing on the day of
the Pacquiao vs. Bradley match. We considered this
“literal” as it drew more attention to the color of
Manny Pacquiao’s boxing attire than to what it
actually symbolizes, which is the flag of the
Philippines.

Relative Meaning The symbolism of Manny Pacquiao’s attire on that

said event represents the flag of the Philippines,
which is colored red and blue. If we are going to look
closely at it, using the lens of Pacquiao’s supporters
on that boxing event and ask their perception about
Manny’s attire, they might probably answer that
Manny Pacqiuao is patriotic and gives back to his
motherland. Supporters might also answer that he is
a good boxer and a great representative of the
Philippines in this game so they are so proud of
Manny Pacqiuao, even though he was beaten.
Socio-Cultural Meaning The boxing shorts, shoes, and gloves of Manny
Pacquiao that he uses in his fight against Bradley are
red and blue with a sun at the side. Looking at it
through our Filipino culture, wearing the symbol of
our flag to represent our country symbolizes
patriotism or the love for our motherland . It is the
symbol that we can resemble as the color of the
Philippine flag, which is blue and red with three stars
and the sun. That is why we conclude this as
socio-cultural because it is how people, particularly
Filipinos, perceive Manny Pacquiao's attire and the
meaning behind it.

SIGN#3: Sad and sorry face of Manny Pacquiao.

SIGNIFIER: Icon

EXPLANATION: We used the downhearted emotion on the face of Manny Pacquiao as one of our signs
needed to make a Semiotic Analysis. This sign is considered as an Icon since it acts as a signifier and it can
be clearly seen in Manny’s emotion that he got defeated by Bradley.

POSSIBLE MEANING EXPLANATION

Literal Meaning We take Manny Pacquiao's sad and sorry expression

as our literal because we can easily understand how
he feels after losing to Bradley. We take this to be
literal since it matches the literal content of the
newspaper at the time, as well as Manny Pacquiao's
literal reaction at not bringing the belt to the
Philippines.

Relative Meaning As regards to Manny Pacquiao's "sad and sorry face"

in a relative meaning, we can see that our boxing idol
Manny Pacquiao loses his fight against Bradley and
believes that he failed to win the battle for his
supporters as well as for his own country. For his
supporters' viewpoint, they might have felt miserable
 for themselves as well as for their idol being sorry
and upset at the result that he was not able to win.

Socio-Cultural Meaning The socio-cultural meaning by the sad and sorry face
of Manny Paquiao portrayed his lost against his
opponent Timothy Bradley, as for the cultural position
of the Filipinos, this shows a sorrowful scene that
many people might also felt sad after the lost of the
"People's champ" since most of the citizen was
expecting that he would win that fight easily,
protecting his title and bring honor to the country,
they might also think how sad and regretful Manny
has felt from the match. While others might also think
that the decision made by the judges were biased
resulting in grief felt by some Filipinos.

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS:
The Semiotic Analysis was regarding the news from three different local newspapers in the Philippines
about Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley's boxing fight for the WBO welterweight title, in which Bradley won
via split decision by the judges. We chose the boxing supporters of Manny Paquiao for the lens of our analysis
that will serve as the point of view based on how we will identify the meaning as well as explain the symbols
we find through their perspective and judgment. The reason we chose the said lens was because they support
Manny Paquiao as fans and respect him as a legendary boxer, their sympathy was with Pacquiao in that fight
against Bradley, the symbols we found were in connection to their reaction from the fight that Manny Pacquiao
lost on that day. The three signs that we have found from those local newspapers were; the “Shocked faces of
Manny Pacquiao's supporters”, then, the “Color of boxing attire of Manny Pacquiao”, and the “Sad and sorry
face of Manny Pacquiao”

First in the signs we have found on the newspapers was the "Shocked faces of Manny Pacquiao's
supporters", we consider this sign as an icon or the sign with physical representation found in one of the
images from the context. The reason we have chosen this sign was because the shocked faces of the
supporter can be used as signifiers that Manny Pacquio was defeated by Timothy Bradley. Moreover, the
possible meaning we have concluded is based on the literal, relative, and socio-cultural meaning of each sign
we found. Literally, the shocked faces of Manny's supporters depicts their surprised reaction after watching
Manny lose the fight. While, the relative meaning was the emotions that we can see during the announcement
that he lost the fight. Looking through the perspective of Pacquiao's supporters it might be a symbol that they
were shocked by the decision of the judges. But for the lens of those who dislike boxing those emotions are
normal even if their idols are beaten by the opponent. For the socio-cultural meaning, as Pacquiao supporters
and as a Filipino we were shocked by that result, which portrays reaction that we would presume something
unexpected has happened.

Meanwhile, the color of boxing attire of Manny Pacquiao was second to the signs we observed and it’s
in relation to the modes of dress and style. This sign was shown as a symbol, meaning that the relation
between this and the signified is purely conventional and culturally specific. We used the attire of Manny
Pacquio as one of our signs because the colors of his attire signifies the flag of our country which is the
Philippines. In addition, we also identified the possible meanings such as literal, relative, and socio-cultural to
this sign. For literal meaning, the color of Manny Pacquiao’s boxing attire simply illustrates the Philippine flag.
Next is the relative meaning of the attire of Pacquiao, looking closely at it through the lens of Pacquiao
supporters, their perception about Manny’s attire might probably mean that Manny Pacqiuao is a nationalist,
supporters might also say that he is a good boxer that represented the Philippines greatly. Lastly for the
socio-cultural meaning, the boxing shorts of Manny Pacquiao in his fight against Bradley used colors; red, blue,
white, and yellow for the sun located at the side. Giving meaning based on Filipino culture, wearing the symbol
of our flag to represent our country shows patriotism or the love for our motherland.

Furthermore, the third sign that we have found was the “Sad and sorry face of Manny Pacquiao” from
the image on the right portion of the newspaper. This sign is considered as an Icon since it acts as a signifier
and it can be clearly seen in Manny’s emotion on his face that he got defeated by Bradley. The literal meaning
we have created for this sign was that Manny Pacquiao's expression shown in the image, indicates how he felt
sorrow and at the same time upset after losing to his opponent Timothy Bradley in their match. Then, the
relative meaning of the sign, the “Sad and sorry face of Manny Pacquiao”, was that we can see after losing his
fight against Bradley, as Pacquiao’s supporters, they might have felt miserable for themselves as well as for
their idol being sorry and upset at the result that he was not able to win. Finally, the meaning as socio–cultural
for the third sign is that as a Filipino’s position, this is a sorrowful scene that many people might also feel sad
after the loss of the "People's champ" because of the high expectation from most people that Manny Pacquiao
will win for sure, they might also think how sad and regretful Manny has felt after the match. While others
might also think that the decision made by the judges were biased resulting in grief felt by some Filipinos.

Thus, those are the three signs and the meanings we have constructed related to the news about
Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley’s boxing match. Wherein, we found out that there are icons and symbols
with many possible meanings based on who views it, meanings such as literal, relative, and socio-cultural. In
our case, the perspective from the supporters of Manny Pacquiao were used as the basis for the signs we
found and analyzed.