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Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao on Philippine Basketball Association

Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao or simply Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao as we all know is the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s. He is also a three-time The Ring and BWAA "Fighter of the Year," winning the award in 2006, 2008 and 2009, and the Best Fighter ESPY Award in 2009 and 2011. He is the current WBO welterweight champion and is currently ranked number four on The Ring pound-for-pound list (after he loses with Juan Manuel Marquez on Pacquiao – Marquez 4). Yes, that’s the Pacman we all know!

From his climb to Lightweight until he losses in 2012, he was long rated as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world by some sporting news and boxing websites, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Sporting Life, Yahoo! Sports, About.com, BoxRec and The Ring.

Now, can you even imagine Pacman playing on a different ring?

October 26, Manny Pacquiao made his professional basketball debut, starting for Kia Sorento in the opening game of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA's) 40th season.

In the league history, at 35 years old, Pacquiao became the oldest rookie.

Against fellow expansion team Blackwater Elite, the playing coach of the Sorento put himself in the first five. Yes you’ve read it right folks, he is the playing coach himself!

There was much hype surrounding Pacquiao's stint, with the crowd at the Philippine Arena cheering him lustily during the parade of teams.

A video featuring announcer Michael Buffer — "Let's get ready to rumble!" — was aired before the game to hype Pacquiao's debut.

In a television interview at halftime, Pacquiao said he was heartened by the support of the fans.

"OK naman, masaya tayo at nagpapasalamat sa mainit na pagtanggap ng libu-libong fans dito," (it’s great, I’m happy and very thankful for the warm welcome of thousands of fans here), said Pacquiao, who didn't say whether he'll play in the second half.

"Depende, depende. Kasi kailangan din manalo." (It depends really, we need to win this game.)

Pacquiao did not return in the second half, but Kia still managed to come back from a halftime deficit behind the hot shooting hands of pint-sized guard LA Revilla.

Pacquiao secured special permission from trainer Freddie Roach to play in the game, with the understanding that the boxer will return to General Santos City by Monday to continue training for his fight against Chris Algieri.

Will Manny Pacquiao wins against Algieri? Definitely, my money is on him! Will he play great ball? That remains to be seen! I’m cheering for him though ;-)

Cheerio!

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