Manny Pacquiao’s hoops obsession puts Mayweather clash at risk

Manny Pacquiao is at it again, playing basketball before his big fight with Floyd Mayweather.
CNN cameras recently captured Pacquiao playing briefly on the professional team he owns in the Philippines. He emerged without injury, but it was reminiscent of when he came under fire last year for playing basketball in the weeks before his November bout with Long Island’s Chris Algieri.
While a sprained ankle or dislocated finger suffered playing basketball could have jeopardized the richest fight in boxing history, Pacquiao escaped injury-free as his team staged a comeback victory.
Pacquiao also hopes to be a victorious when he faces the unbeaten Mayweather for the welterweight championship on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I can say [this will be] one of the most important fights of my career,” Pacquiao
told CNN. “[It] has been five years in the making and finally it’s happening. I think the fans deserve it.”
Mayweather and Pacquiao will come face-to-face on Wednesday in Los Angeles, where the only press conference before fight week will be held.
Mayweather opened his training camp in Las Vegas on Tuesday and remains a 3-to-1
favorite. Pacquiao, who already has arrived in Los Angeles to begin training, said he plans to have his children at the fight.
“My son and my daughter, they really wanted this fight to happen,” Pacquiao said.
“Three years ago [they said], ‘Daddy, I want you to fight Mayweather. I want you to fight Mayweather.’ I said, ‘Why? It’s not my fault. He doesn’t want to fight.’ And now finally now it finally happened. They really, really want to watch the fight.”