7 more ways Manny Pacquiao is stranger than you think
He just keeps getting better and weirder!
Earlier this month, we brought you the first installment of our Weird Manny Pacquiao series, where we gave you seven weird facts about the better of the two competitors in the upcoming fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Now, thanks to this new ESPN profile on the boxer, we’re bringing you the follow-up.
1. Manny Pacquiao has three random guys to massage his calves.
There are three different men who rub Pacquiao’s comically sculpted calves once a day, each taking a morning, afternoon or evening shift. (Like many on this endless payroll, these masseurs aren’t trained professionals.)
2. Manny Pacquiao pays people to lose at darts.
There are the weekly dart tournaments Pacquiao loves staging inside his garage, awarding $100 to those who finish last. (His personal photographer, admittedly awful at darts, is a chronic entrant.)
3. Manny Pacquiao runs an indie Biggest Loser weight-loss contest.
B-Side Weight Loss Competition, this flier announces, before enumerating the rules and prizes of a five-week, reality-style contest. The biggest loser nets a total of $12,000; the second-biggest, $7,000; the third-biggest, $5,000; and anyone else who loses 15 percent of their corpus automatically wins $2,000.
4. Manny Pacquiao recorded his own walk-up music for this fight.
Manny, like Elvis or David Copperfield, was wired like a Vegas headliner despite speaking English as a third language, crooning into every available microphone -- he's recorded his own walk-up song for the Mayweather fight, on top of two albums
5. Manny Pacquiao has to be insanely careful in the weeks leading up to the fight.
One of those security dudes, a Filipino Krav Maga instructor, is paid to be on alert for anyone who might be instructed to trip Manny during his runs. Peters already booted some guy who claimed he was at Wild Card to serve Pacquiao a subpoena. ("Might've been one of Mayweather's guys," Roach theorizes.) They also banned a would-be sparring partner whose trainer previously worked with Mayweather, fearing skulduggery was afoot. "There's too much money involved for something like that to not happen," Fortune says.
6. Manny Pacquiao has a swear jar.
At Wild Card, he has introduced a swear jar, fining Fortune and Roach $5 for every curse word they utter within earshot.
7. Manny Pacquiao can’t stand to watch his brother box.
"Manny had to watch on the television back in the hotel," recalls Bobby, who proceeded to get flattened by an Antillon body shot in the first round. "He was too nervous."
Now go read the full profile on ESPN!
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