MANNY PACQUIAO is making the most out of the free time in his calendar by engaging in his other passion apart from boxing and cockfighting.
Shooting pool remains high on his list of priorities when not in training and on Friday night, he was at his favorite playing area, Rock and Roll (Mabini near Remedios St. in Malate), to sharpen his skills once more after being away for several days due to out-of-town commitments.
After a brief chat with a few scribes at a nearby Japanese restaurant, Pacquiao proceeded back to the dimly-lit billiards hall where a yellow tape was placed two meters from where the boxing star was doing his thing.
“It had to be done when he is around because a lot of people gather around the table when he is playing,” said a hustler. “We don’t want him distracted. He loves the game so much that he looks very serious when it’s his turn to strike.”
Known simply as “Champ” there, Pacquiao knows his days at the Rock and Roll are numbered because by next month, he will be starting the first phase of his training in Cebu with Freddie Roach.
Pacquiao is revving up for a megabuck rematch with Erik Morales of Mexico. They are already booked to slug it out again on Jan. 21, 2006 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao actually is leaving for a promotional tour of Mexico and US cities in the second week of November. He will be joined in the multi-city tour by kingmaker Wakee Salud.
“I was told that Morales and myself are going to promote the rematch in Mexico and in New York, Las Vegas, LA and a city in Texas,” Pacquiao said in response to a reporter’s query regarding his itinerary in the coming weeks.
“After that, I will be going back to Manila with Freddie Roach so we can start training (in Cebu),” added Pacquiao, who last fought on Sept. 10 in Los Angeles where he bludgeoned Hector Velazquez of Mexico.
After one or two weeks training in the Queen City, Pacquiao will head back to the US with Roach and select members of his US entourage. Roach had said recently that they will camp out in Phoenix, Arizona, and Pacquiao will have no choice but to spend his 27th birthday on Dec. 17, Christmas Day and the New Year in seclusion.
“You can celebrate birthday every year and fights like this (with Morales) comes once in a lifetime,” Roach had said.
