Manny Pacquiao: How Would the Boxing Star Fare in These 10 Other Sports?
Manny Pacquiao loves playing basketball so much that his trainer Freddie Roach had to step up and tell the top pound-for-pound boxer to take a rest from the hardwood and focus on training for his November 13th fight against Antonio Margarito.
His obvious love for basketball got me thinking, how would he fare in other professional sports besides boxing?
Baseball
1 of 10
Considering heโs the best in the world at swinging his fists, itโs probably safe to say heโd be pretty good at swinging a bat too. How accurate his swings would be is yet to be seen, but if he managed to connect, itโd be goodbye baseball.
One thing is for sure, pitchers would be very careful not to cheap shot Pacquiao. Heโs definitely one guy they do not want to see charging the mound.
Basketball
2 of 10
I hate to be the guy who has to crush his hopes and dreams, but Iโm sorry, Manny. Youโre just way too short to make it in the NBA. We all have dreams; I wanted to grow up to be the next Mike Tyson, and LeBron James wanted to be the next Michael Jordan. Some dreams just donโt come true.
We all need to face the facts and let these dreams die.
Golf
3 of 10
Manny Pacquiao could very well be the real-life Happy Gilmore. Heโd be able to drive the golf ball out of this world, but his putting would need some serious help.
Could he find his happy place and eventually turn into a great putter? Your guess is as good as mine.
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World Football
4 of 10
Typically, boxers must have extremely strong legs so they can stay mobile in the ring and brace themselves in and out of punches.
How would he do in World Football? I have no idea. But like every sport listed in this slideshow, if worse came to worst, he could just knock out everyone on the other team, and there wouldn't be a single thing anyone could do about it.
American Football
5 of 10
Standing at only 5โ6โ, there are not many positions Pacquiao could play in the NFL. Maybe he could make it as a running back in short-yardage situations because thereโs no way in the world heโs going down on first contact.
Hockey
6 of 10
Letโs just assume heโs a horrible skater and wouldnโt make it in the NHL. Heโs from the Philippines and has probably never been on or even seen ice in his life.
Tennis
7 of 10
If you think Andy Roddick has a powerful serve, just wait until you see Pacquiaoโs. If he learned how to land the ball inside the boundaries, chances are even the greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would have a hard time returning his serve.
MMA
8 of 10
How Pacquiao would do in the octagon has been debated many times before. In my personal opinion, I think heโd do just fine against MMAโs elite.
Would he be the pound-for-pound best like he is in boxing? Probably not. But he wouldnโt get laid out in first five seconds like James Toney either.
If he had the time to properly train and learn everything from the ground game up, thereโs no doubt in my mind that he would be a serious contender against any MMA star.
Horse Racing
9 of 10
In order for Manny Pacquiao to become a jockey, he would need to starve himself for a few months and get back down to 106 lbs like he weighed at the very beginning of his professional boxing career.
However, I donโt doubt he could do it for a second. Weโve all seen how Calvin Borel whips his horse to get an extra boost for the finish line. Iโm guessing if Pacquiao took a swing at a horse, it would outrun its entire competition with plenty of room to spare.
Cycling
10 of 10
Hereโs a sport Manny Pacquiao might be able to do great in because he can relate with one of the best cyclists of all time. Lance Armstrong has won seven Tours de France, yet some people counter his greatness with alleged steroid use. The same can be said for Pacquiaoโs greatness in boxing.
Neither have ever tested positive for an illegal substance, but that will never stop the haters from hating.
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