Top-Rank promoter Bob Arum has once again given Manny Pacquiao advice to stop playing basketball and start concentrating on his upcoming showdown with undefeated American fighter Christopher Algieri, adding he will give Pacman the green light to work out with the New York Knicks once he's done with his job.
Arum, who has been promoting Pacquiao fights since the mid-2000s, sounded very concerned when asked what he feels about the boxer's latest venture into professional basketball.
"I found out he was playing before he played, and I wasn't very happy," Arum said in an interview with the New York Post. "Professional basketball, no matter where the country is that you play, is a rugged sport and a player can turn an ankle very, very easily. An injury would have really wreaked havoc with the fight, so I was not very pleased."
The Harvard-educated lawyer believed Pacquiao is putting his self in some tight position with just few weeks left before his fight with Algieri on November 22 at Venetian Macao in Macau, China.
Arum thought Pacquiao should start focusing on Algieri first before going back to the hardcourt. He added that he might give Pacquiao a hand in trying out for the Knickerbockers in the NBA after he finished off his opponents.
"After he does the fight on Nov. 22, if he wants to try out for the New York Knicks, that's fine with me," Arum said in a recent interview via the New York Post.
Pacquiao, the reigning WBO Welterweight Champion, will be taking on Algieri on a 144-pound catchweight. Although the Pacman is fighting an 8-1 underdog, many experts still think that Algieri has an outside chance of pulling off an upset because of his technical fighting skills and his unfathomable height and reach advantage.
Then again, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach assured everyone that Pacquiao is doing pretty well in training. As a matter of fact, he just dominated his sparmate, the hard-hitting Mike Jones, in their recent sparring session.
"We brought in some big sparring partners like Mike Jones, who is a big puncher, and Manny does really well with him," Roach said in an interview with Sherdog. "Machine Gun" in recent sparring sessions. "He's doing well so far, and he shows the intensity we want. He comes up on him and finishes him."
