Pacquiao's pro hoops debut upset promoter Arum

Basketball is Manny Pacquiao's passion.

But boxing brings home the bacon — and lots of it — for the Filipino superstar.

So last weekend, when he left his training camp in the Philippines for his Nov. 22 welterweight title fight against Chris Algieri to make his pro debut in the Philippine Basketball Association, it didn't sit well with at least one person who matters.

Bob Arum, 82, the chairman of Top Rank Promotions and Pacquiao's longtime handler, said he knew ahead of time that Pacquiao was going to play and was not happy. Even though the player-coach of the Kia Sorento club started and played only seven minutes, contributing two turnovers, Arum said it could have been disastrous for the HBO pay-per-view fight in Macau a month from now.

"I was not a very happy camper when I found out," Arum told news reporters in a conference call Thursday from General Santos City, Philippines, where Pacquiao's training camp is located. "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 everyone has assured us — Manny has assured (trainer) Freddie (Roach) and Freddie has assured me — that that's it. After he does the fight on Nov. 22, if he wants to try out for the New York Knicks, that's OK with me."

Pacquiao, who is listed as a 5-7 point guard, called it a "good experience" to play in a professional basketball game. He says he plays basketball to stay conditioned between fights.

"I didn't play long, I just wanted to help my team, and that's why I played," the eight-division world champion said. "Professional basketball in the Philippines is very competitive, and, more importantly, we won the first game."

Pacquiao said he was excited "and a little nervous because it was the first game and there were over 52,000 fans."

The 35-year-old fighter and congressman vowed he would not play or coach again until after the fight, for which he's expected to earn about $20 million.

"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."

Arum said he never considered putting a clause in Pacquiao's contract forbidding from engaging in risky business.

"No, that's the way it happens. Manny said he was going to play in the opening game for his team, I didn't say anything because Manny had decided that he wanted to do that, and now it's done," Arum said. "Once that happened, I had a talk with him, and he agreed that he wouldn't do it any more till after the fight. That's how it works when you are dealing in an environment with all adults.

"With Manny, we have a different kind of relationship, one built on a mutual respect and mutual trust."

As for his fight against Algieri, the Long Island, N.Y., native who is 20-0 with eight KOs and is coming off an upset of Ruslan Provodnikov, Pacquiao says he is taking it seriously and has brought in some tall sparring partners to prepare for the taller Algieri. During the call, Roach might have provided Algieri with bulletin-board fodder.

"We have some great sparring partners — (Viktor) Postol the No. 1 contender in the world, Mike Jones, who is a big 147-pounder and Stan Martyniouk," Roach said. "All the guys are tall, and I think some are better than our opponent, but we will see very soon."

Later, when asked if he thought he was slighting Algieri, Roach said, "Sometimes the truth hurts."