Pacman bets vs Lakers but wins with Magic

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – There was no mention of boxing when Manny Pacquiao shared lunch with a few close friends Sunday inside his mansion which, among the members of his security team, goes by the codename “White House.”

The 31-year-old icon, who’s in for his biggest battle outside the ring when the national elections take place today, had his mind anywhere else except boxing. He talked about politics and for a longer time about the ongoing NBA playoffs.

A call was placed and Pacquiao spoke to a friend who’s based in Los Angeles, and for more than five minutes they covered the Lakers’ one-point win over the Utah Jazz, giving the Kobe Bryant-led team a 3-0 lead in the Western semis.

Pacquiao said he lost $30,000 (roughly P1.3 million) online in that Lakers-Jazz game, but won almost the same amount with the Orlando Magic’s 30-point win over the Atlanta Hawks, giving Orlando a similar 3-0 lead in the Eastern side of the NBA.

“Bawi lang (Break even),” said Pacquiao, smiling, just as he finished a plateful of steamed rice, fish and vegetables.

Everybody’s looking forward to Pacquiao’s superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. but as the reigning pound-for-pound champion focused on the elections, boxing is out of the picture, not even with the presence of his promoter, the legendary Bob Arum.

Arum, the 78-year-old wonder, has been in town for the last four days, here to give his fighter the needed morale support. A handful members of the foreign press, as distinguished as Bill Dwyre of the LA Times, are also here to cover Pacquiao’s other fight.

“There’s no word on boxing, no word on Mayweather in front of Manny,” said the boxer’s Canadian adviser, Mike Koncz.

“Bob and I have talked boxing but not in front of Manny,” said Koncz, adding that the fight with Mayweather, the self-proclaimed pound-for-pound champion, is still far from happening mainly because he feels the undefeated American doesn’t want it to happen.

“We’ve had everything in place when this drug-testing issue came up,” said Koncz, hinting that if and when it’s settled, another big issue might crop up, one that could involve the purse sharing, and the fight, once again, will be hard to make.

Pacquiao doesn’t need Mayweather, he says, and yes, there may be other good fights to make out there, one that may include Antonio Margarito, the ex-welterweight king who just won in Mexico yesterday, or Juan Manuel Marquez.

Koncz said Pacquiao has been around town practically 24/7 the past two months, and whatever happens in today’s elections, win or lose, he said the reigning WBO welterweight champion and his family will fly off for a much-needed vacation.

Koncz did not mention any destination.

“We’re keeping our destination on hold probably until the week before we leave because everytime we make plans of visiting this country Manny gets a lot of phone calls from friends out there,” said Koncz.

But for the meantime, as far as Koncz is concerned, it’s just the elections, the NBA, and no boxing for Pacquiao.