Former pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has never abandoned his passion for the game of basketball despite his stature as a boxing legend, and now, one of the most influential politicians in the Philippines. Pacman, a self-professed fan of the Golden State Warriors, even took a risky bet to show he was 100 percent confident in the team during the NBA Finals.
The bet
In an interview on a local news show ‘24 Oras’ on GMA, Pacquiao revealed that he had a bet with some members of his entourage about taking a 6-hour walk from General Santos to Tinoto, Sarangani if the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from 0-3 series hole in this year’s NBA Finals.
The former eight-time division champ even bragged that he predicted the Warriors to finish off the Cavaliers in five games.
“I predicted it’s going to be 4-1. I predicted it even before the NBA finals series between the Warriors and the Cavs began,” Pacquiao said.
Close call for comfort
The boxing champ just showed his pure devotion to his Warriors. Taking that 18.6 mile walk is no joke since the route from Gensan to Sarangani is infested with left-front fighters that could pose a risk to his safety. Pacquiao, who dodged a number of kidnapping and assassination plots before, may have used more security forces while fulfilling his promise, but that didn't rule out a potential ambush in that mountainous regions of the Philippines.
What’s next for Pacman
Pacquiao, who was elected into the Philippine Senate a year ago, is currently training for his July 2nd showdown with Australian fighter Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia. Dubbed as the Battle of the Brisbane, the Pacquiao vs. Horn welterweight match is expected to fill in 60,000 seats at Suncorp Stadium, making it the largest sporting event in Queensland’s history.
The Pacman, who boasts 59-6-2 record with 30 knockouts, is defending the WBO welterweight championship against the unheralded fighter from down under. However, Horn’s undefeated record in 17 pro fights tells he isn’t a pushover fighter than most boxing pundits and fans think. The Aussie has been knocking out his opponents in his previous three fights with his last victory coming by the way of a 6th-round TKO against Ali Funeka of South Africa.
On the other hand, Pacquiao is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision win over Jessie Vargas in their WBO title fight last November. Despite giving away the age, height and reach advantage to Horn, the 38-year old Pacquiao is confident that he still has the ring savvy and enough juice in his punches to win over Horn.
