By Alon Calinao Dy: New WBO welterweight and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2) would like to become a basketball player for Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after he defeated Timothy Bradley (31-1-1) in unanimous decision last April 12 this year at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, Commissioner Chito Salud said in one of the interviews to spin.ph, “He (referring to Pacquiao) will be a welcome to the PBA. But he will have to enter the rookie draft – he has to go through the process.”

Some of Pacquiao’s supporters are not happy with his decision to play in PBA, as they want him to focus only on his boxing career. Others would even argue that this would be the end of the journey for the Filipino boxing champ, for he might suffer some injuries during the competition. His fans are very worried about this because Pacquiao is trying so many things in life.

Aside from being a boxer, he is a singer, artist, politician, preacher, and now trying to become a basketball player in the Philippines. Indeed, these things are obvious distractions for the Sarangani Representative . Although in some reports it said that before his fight against Bradley, playing basketball truly helped his speed and footwork during the heat of the battle.

Weather or not Pacquiao becomes a new PBA player, I believe the Filipino Pride is qualified to play in this game regardless of height disadvantage. He still has the power and speed to excel in other physical sports if he really wants to. Of course, there is no guarantee that the Filipino congressman will be selected to apply for the rookie draft despite his greatness in boxing.