LOS ANGELES ? Manny Pacquiao spent the rest of Friday like there?s no big fight coming up in the next few days.
From the Wild Card Gym, where he trained for nearly three hours in the afternoon, he needed less than 10 minutes to get home on board his black Mercedes Benz SL 550.
Once he got in, he threw himself into the cozy leather sofa, and grabbed his copy of Rick Warren?s ?The Purpose Driven Life? for his daily dose of ?spiritual medicine.?
?I?m into my 25th day reading this book which I should finish in 40 days,? said Pacquiao, holding on the book, all 336 pages of values, strengths, skills, habits and relationships needed to fulfill one?s mission in life.
?I pick up and learn a lot from this book. I take down some verses and check the Bible for their true meaning,? said Pacquiao.
As he read the book, for probably 30 minutes, his pet, a Jack Russell named ?Pacman?, fooled around him.
Shortly after, he played darts with friends and later on belted out a few songs over the karaoke system plugged to his giant plasma TV.
Pacquiao welcomed a line of guests to his apartment, too, including the now-LA-based Pinay actress Antoinette Taus, who came with a lovely female friend named Stephanie.
He also caught a replay of the classic Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez bout, and talked about the toughness of the Marquez brothers, including Juan Manuel, whom he defeated last March in Las Vegas.
Later on, Pacquiao went to his room upstairs, where he planned to have his dinner consisting of rice, chicken kebab, nilagang baka and fruits. Just an hour before, he devoured a plateful of sliced fresh oranges.
Sooner, everybody, one by one, had to leave, all too happy to be part of Pacquiao?s delightful evening.
So close to a big fight.
