Manny Pacquiao recently became a coach in the Philippine Basketball Association, a professional basketball league of sorts. In doing so, he'll become the head man of the Kia Motors squad. What you may not have known is that he's also entering their upcoming draft with hopes of becoming a Player/Coach. Don't even ask me what would happen if he were to be drafted by a team other than the one he coaches for. Don't ask Bob Arum either, as he isn't exactly thrilled with Pac's lastest foray into other activities, particularly when he should be training for Chris Algieri.
"He can't do both (boxing and basketball)," said Arum via the Manila Bulletin, a local daily in the Philippines.
"We'll talk to Manny if it is possible that he spend six weeks in Los Angeles," said Arum.
Bob apparently thinks getting Pacquiao to commit to a six-week training camp in Los Angeles will supposedly remove him from all unnecessary distractions, because well, there's no distractions in LA, are there?
Pacquiao, though, is still the overwhelming favorite to beat Chris Algieri, much like Mike Tyson was against Buster Douglas all those years ago. And also like that fight, Pac may be inclined to spend more time outside of the ring, than training to be in it.
All of this can only have Chris Algieri frothing at the mouth, primed to make an upset. A declining fighter who isn't completely invested in this rigorous sport can quickly find himself in a bad place. I've previously mentioned that while Algieri is no King Kong, he does present Pacquiao with the kind of opponent he hasn't seen before, a tall and rangy boxer who likes to move around. Pacquiao hates chasing movers and he's surely going to need his legs in top form if he's to consistently find his way into punching range against the much taller Algieri. Sure, Pac's talent far exceeds that of Algieri's, and he should easily beat someone of this caliber, but at this stage and with this lackadaisical attitude, we've seen titans fall before.