Sun.Star: Pacquiao plays point guard on his day-off

Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao played his first game against some Cebu media workers yesterday at the City Sports Club Gym. In 40 minutes, Pacquiao did not get any rest as he led his team to a 76-73 win. While his opponents and teammates shuffled from start to finish, Pacquiao, accompanied by his wife Jinkee and their daughter Mary Divine, dazzled spectators with his knowledge in basketball, almost at par with his killer left. “It was really a nice game. I want to play more games with you. And while I’m here (in Cebu) we will play every Sunday. And after my fight I’ll come back here to play a game with you," Pacquiao said afterwards. Just as he requested, there were only a few people watching the game but still he couldn’t escape from autograph-seekers and photo requests after the game ended. Pacquiao’s team, which included Cebu customs employee Jing-Jing Rama, trainers Buboy Fernandez and Roberto Bubuli Jr., played against the combined forces of Sun.Star Cebu, Sun.Star Superbalita, The Freeman, Banat News, Cebu Daily News, RPN-9, dyRF and sportsman-architect Allan Choachuy. From start to finish, it was an all-Pacquiao show, with the point guard feeding his teammates with fancy passes or taking shots for himself, most of which found their marks. He got the biggest applause when he tried to bounce the leather off the board for an alley-oop lay-up. Though he failed on four occasions, the sight of a boxing champion doing such a difficult (for a non-basketball player) maneuver was almost as good as two points. “The last time I got to play a whole game, I was 13 years old. This is the first time I played the entire game since," Pacquiao said. Pacquiao is in Cebu to train for his Oct. 6 rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Today, Pacquiao will start his heavy training load at the RWS International Gym in Punta Princesa. His regular sparring partner, Mexican David Rodela, arrived yesterday from Los Angeles. “It’s my great pleasure to help Manny in preparing for his fights," Rodela told Sun.Star Cebu. He was the Filipino champion’s regular sparring partner in all his three fights with Erik Morales and also against Jorge Solis last April. Pacquiao picked Rodela, a lightweight campaigner with a ring record of 7-1-2, 4KOs, because of some resemblance to the styles of Morales and Barrera. “He also throws a lot of punches, which is good if I’m working on my defense," Pacquiao added. - Sun.Star