Basketball has been big news in the Philippines the past week, but the intense interest there isn?t related to the start of the NBA season.
They?re debating whether a 5-foot-6 player/coach should?ve stepped on the court for seven minutes in a Philippine Basketball Association game Oct. 19. This reserve guard isn?t fighting for playing time, though.
Manny Pacquiao has a much more important fight scheduled for Nov. 22, when he?ll defend his WBO welterweight title against Chris Algieri in Macau, China. The Filipino icon will make eight figures for a pay-per-view fight his promoter, Bob Arum, and HBO Sports have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting the past 2 1/2 months.
With so much money at stake, Arum clearly wasn?t pleased Pacquiao played basketball during training camp for his upcoming fight. Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) thought the issue was overblown because the game was played on a Sunday, the only day he takes off during training camps.
Nevertheless, one slightly sprained ankle could?ve caused a postponement that would?ve cost organizers of the event much more than however many weeks the postponement would?ve lasted.
“I found out that he was playing before he played and I was not a very happy camper,” Arum said on a conference call last week. “Professional basketball, no matter the country where it is played, is a rugged sport and a player can turn an ankle very, very easily.
“These players in the NBA are fantastic physical specimens and yet they get injured all the time. An injury would have really wreaked havoc on the fight, so I was not very pleased. But Manny has assured [trainer] Freddie [Roach] and Freddie has assured me that that?s it.”
Pacquiao promised he?ll stop playing basketball until after he fights Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs), a big underdog from Huntington, N.Y.
“Right now I have an assistant coach and he will coach the basketball team,” Pacquiao said. “Right now I am focused on my training. After the fight, I will come back to the team and be focused on coaching the team.”
In the Philippines, where Pacquiao also is a congressman and a star in action movies, he does virtually whatever he wants. That can continue, according to Arum, between training camps.
“After he does the fight on Nov. 22,” Arum said, “if he wants to try out for the Knicks, that?s OK with me.”
Twitter: @Idecboxing
