Filipino boxing legend-turned politician Senator Manny Pacquiao is known to favor basketball as well; very active in following the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 championship run and openly supporting the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons.
The news was officially hinted on the Facebook page of Pacquiao’s official photographer, Wendell Alinea, who posted a selfie with the 39-year-old athlete captioned, “My boss supports the UP Maroons.” The announcement was then officially made by Pacquiao’s Senate chief Aquiles Zonio last Saturday, December 1, before Game 1 of the best-out-of-three series as he stated, “[Pacquiao] just announced that he’ll treat the UP Fighting Maroons to a free US trip to watch his fight on January 19 against Adrian Broner if the team would beat the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP finals.” Although Manny Pacquiao has no direct association with the State University, he expressed his generosity as a way of always rooting for the underdogs. Zonio added in Filipino, “You know how boss is. In a way, he hopes he’ll be able to inspire the Fighting Maroons to go even harder to win the championship.”
The UP Fighting Maroons entered the finals series for the first time in 32 years after besting out Adamson University during the semi-finals, where they moved up from being the 3rd seed. However, last Saturday, they suffered their first shot at the coveted Season 81 trophy as Ateneo triumphed at 88-79. They’ll have their second shot as they do-or-die next Wednesday, December 5 for Game 2 of the series at the Araneta Coliseum.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, will be facing Adrien “The Problem” Broner on January 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as he defends his WBA Welterweight title. This fight is in anticipation of his supposed rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.