Basketball or boxing? Manny Pacquiao's choice for his kids

In a month, the PBA will officially welcome reigning WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao into the league not just as Team KIA’s head coach but as a PBA player. The incoming expansion team plans to select Pacquiao with their first round pick if no other team decides to beat them to the punch.

The upcoming two-sport athlete, however, prefers one to the other for his kids.

“Hindi siguro sila sa boxing susunod. Sa ibang bagay siguro,” said Pacquiao during a brief question and answer segment during the Rexona Training Camp.

“Mahilig sila sa basketball. Wala silang hilig sa boxing kasi wala ring boxing equipment sa bahay. Dini-discourage ko sila e.”

Due to the volume of questions, Pacquiao was not able to elaborate on why he discourages his kids to take up the sport of boxing but the reasons are rather obvious. Dionisia Pacquiao has often asked her son to retire from the dangerous sport of boxing and maybe Pacquiao is feeling the same fear as a parent.

Even if this is the case, Pacquiao expressed in the same interview that he is not yet ready to hang up his gloves.

“Retirement sa boxing? Malungkot iyan kasi wala nang magrerepresent sa bansa natin,” the eight-division world champion said. “Kahit may basketball na, gusto ko pa rin ipagpatuloy yung boxing ko.”

“Start ng training namin sa September. Darating si coach Freddie [Roach] either second or third week of September.”

In a separate interview, the American trainer expressed his confidence of getting a knockout against Pacquiao’s upcoming opponent Chris Algieri.

“We’ll knock him out somewhere along the way,” Roach said in an interview with Joe Habeeb.

Asked whether Algieri’s length, specifically his jab, could be a problem, Roach confidently answered: “No it should be no problem for Pacquiao. It’s like night and day. He’s way above him.”