Manny Pacquiao Basketball Skills Not Impresive, Says Beau Belga

A professional basketball player in the Philippines said that Manny Pacquiao will not be given any special treatment when he plays in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games for his Kia team.

Saying Pacquiao is a rookie and he is a veteran, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters baller Beau Belga said that he will do his usual routine on the court even if he plays against Pacquiao, Zee News India reported.

"I have no intention of hurting him, but I will play my normal game against him. I don't have to change it just because he's Manny Pacquiao," said the 27-year-old Belga who is popularly known in his country as "Extra Rice" because of his size.

According to Zee News India, he even commented that Pacquiao's ball skills are not really impressive, based on his previous experience of playing with the boxer.

"People are saying he has improved, probably because he was challenged by the fans' criticism," Belga said.

He added that he will not allow Pacquiao to get an open shot or to even get past him.

The 35-year-old boxer has recently been drafted to the Kia team last month although he lacked experience in professional basketball. It is, however, widely known that he plays the sport as part of his training in boxing.

He earlier told the Inquirer that he first fell in love with basketball but cleared that boxing remains his No. 1 priority.

"Basketball is my first love but boxing is my bread and butter. It's a matter of time management. I've been doing multi-tasking before and this job as playing-coach of a basketball team is no longer new," Pacquiao added.

He was also earlier hired as the coach of the basketball team, which according to Zee News India, will open account this coming Oct. 19.

The Filipino boxing champ's team is set to face off with Belga's Rain or Shine in one of the games in the tournament.

For his part, Kia team manager Eric Pineda claimed that Pacquiao missed most of the workouts and training of the basketball team because of his training for his upcoming fight with Chris Algieri next month.

"They (Kia) know they cannot compete for time with Manny's boxing career. They know how important Manny's next fight is," Pineda said.

Pacquiao's decision to take on basketball on the side, has earned negative comments from man--even from his coach Freddie Roach who earlier said that he wanted the boxer to focus on his bouts first before thinking about basketball.

The Inquirer said that Roach pushed for Pacquiao to train in the United States instead of the Philippines to avoid any basketball distractions but it seemed that the boxer wanted to be near his Kia team even if he can't train with them. 

"He can't do both (boxing and basketball)," Bob Arum, echoing the same sentiments as Roach, told the International Business Times.