BESIDES BILLIARDS and cockfighting, boxing star Manny Pacquiao is also deep into the game of hoops, and, one bad fall, or a wayward elbow, could jeopardize his rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico on Feb. 26 in Las Vegas.
An aide picked up a call placed by the Bulletin yesterday afternoon and the fellow politely told this writer “Manny was still playing basketball.” The time was 3:30 p.m.
It is an open secret that Pacquiao is hooked on billiards, and whenever the champ is in Manila, he frequents Coronado in Makati for some R&R sometimes accompanied by his bosom buddy and training assistant Buboy Fernandez.
Pacquiao is also into cockfighting as evidenced by the existence of a game farm in his hometown of General Santos City. Among his top feathered warriors were gifts from champion breeder Rudy Salud, while a great number were imported from the US.
While Pacquiao takes turns in shooting pool, playing hoops and attending derbies, Marquez, who miraculously got up from three knockdowns in the first round, is already in the thick of training in the mountains just outside Mexico City.
Marquez?s training is being supervised by the bemoustached Ignacio Beristain, one of the world?s top tacticians.
Despite the extra-curricular activities, Pacquiao wants his supporters and handlers to take it nice and easy.
“I am taking good care of myself. Don?t you all worry,” said Pacquiao, whose 26th birthday was celebrated amid chaos in GenSan last Dec. 17.
A recipient of the Athlete of the Year award from the Philippine Sportswriters Association for the third straight year, Pacquiao leaves for Los Angeles on Jan. 8 so he can begin training under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Vine St. in Hollywood.
He would only be joined in the flight by Fernandez because another cornerman, Lito Mondejar, has begged off to depart this early owing to the cold weather.
For the nth time, Pacquiao will stay at the Vagabond Inn, just a stone?s throw away from the famed sweat shop ran by Roach for the last ten years.
