John Smallwood: Pacquiao embraces newfound faith in God

LAS VEGAS — The vices of fame and fortune are seductive. Many athletes, actors, musicians, politicians — virtually anyone whose status has provided wealth and/or celebrity — has fallen prey.

Sex, drugs, alcohol or just a general sense of entitlement have toppled those icons. But I never pictured playing basketball as one of the forbidden fruits.

Still, according to his trainer, Freddie Roach, hoops was one of the bigger distractions that superstar boxer Manny Pacquiao, who has won world titles in eight weight classes, had to give up to regain focus on his career.

Originally, the 5-6 Pacquiao dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player in his homeland of the Philippines, where the sport is popular.

As a boxer, he used basketball as a training activity. Pacquiao's passion grew to the point at which he became the owner/occasional player of the MP-Gensan Warriors, of the Liga Pilipinas. He made his debut in January 2009 — a month after he scored a technical knockout win over Oscar De La Hoya.

But Pacquiao had experienced leg cramps in some of his recent fights. He decided basketball was too much, with all the other stuff he was doing.

"He gave up basketball, his favorite sport," Roach recently told USA Today in a story about Pacquiao recommitting himself to religion. "[Playing basketball] killed him.

"He'd work out three hours in the morning, then go play basketball for three hours. He said maybe that's why he's getting leg cramps."

Pacquiao's passion for hoops aside, his party lifestyle, which included an indulgence of gambling, drinking and women, probably contributed a bit, too.

The wake-up call apparently came last November after Pacquiao won a controversial decision over Juan Manuel Márquez. Many thought Pacquiao had actually lost the fight.

There is always debate after a close fight, but one thing all agreed on was that he looked little like the fighter who some call the best pound-for-pound boxer of this generation.

Pacquiao was staring into the abyss.

He had lifted himself from being a 14-year-old who sometimes lived in the streets of Manila to becoming a world-recognized athlete earning as much as basketball star LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson.

In the Philippines, Pacquiao is so revered that in 2010 he was elected to the House of Representatives.

Publicly, Pacquiao, 33, had it all, but privately he was losing his way.

Forty minutes before the Marquez fight, Pacquiao and his wife, Jinkee, were arguing, and she reportedly had asked for a divorce.

A devout Roman Catholic, Pacquiao promised God to recommit himself to his faith and the teachings of the Bible.

Pacquiao sold the casino he owned in Manila, closed his two bars and gave away his nearly 1,000 cock-fighting roosters.

He said he has stopped drinking and carousing with women.

Over the past 8 months, Pacquiao's constant companion has been his Bible. He has worked to improve his relationship with Jinkee.

"The old has passed, the new has come," Pacquiao said at the news conference for his fight with WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. "The sins we committed over and over, I stopped doing that.

"I found it in my manual for life, the Bible. It's better for me. I know if I die today where I'm going. I'm not worried about what fits in this world. I'm worried about what happens to me in my eternal life.

"I have peace of mind, no problems with my family. I am full of the word of God."

Pacquiao isn't the first fighter to have a religious epiphany in the midst of his career.

The most impactful came in 1964, when newly crowned heavyweight Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. changed his name to Cassius X and joined the Nation of Islam in 1964.

The religious conversion of the man who became Muhammad Ali had global social and political impacts that far transcended the realm of sports.

The sphere of Pacquiao's rededication to God will be a bit more intimate.

"He used to have a lot of distractions in his life," Roach told reporters. "Now, he has one new distraction, Bible study. I don't know how hard that is.

"This is great for his boxing career, because he doesn't have all the distractions other fighters have."

And despite the apparent conflict between the peaceful teachings of the Bible and violent combative world of boxing, Pacquiao said his regained faith will not hurt his career.

"I am happy [boxing]," Pacquiao told reporters. "This is what God has made me. I'm thankful to God for everything I have done in boxing.

"When I step into the ring, I change the button. I change the mood. I can do that, yes."