MANNY Pacquiao had a surprise visitor at the sideline during the kick-off press conference for his welterweight title fight against undefeated champion Errol Spence next month.
Top NBA prospect Jalen Green personally went to the Fox Studio in Los Angeles to see the 42-year-old boxing legend from the Philippines face Spence for the first time since their August 21 bout was announced last week of May.
Green, a former teammate of Gilas Pilipinas big man Kai Sotto with the NBA G-League Ignite, later hooked up with the 42-year-old Pacquiao following the hour-long proceedings to have his photo taken in a meet-up between a certified boxing Hall of Famer and a rising cage star expected to be a lottery draft pick in the NBA.
The 6-foot-6 Green, whose mother Bree Puruganan is of Filipino descent, later posed for a photo holding the title belt of Pacquiao accompanied by the boxer’s personal assistant David Sisson and closed-in security Choy Garcia.
As a show of appreciation, the only eighth-time world division champion handed Green a pair of boxing gloves personally signed by the ageless boxing superstar.
The 19-year-old Green from Merced, California, had been twice a Manila visitor playing for the Filam Sports USA team in the NBTC League National Finals, the last of which came in 2019.
Green represented the U.S. in both the 2018 (U-17) and 2019 (U-19) FIBA World Cup, respectively, where he was adjudged MVP of the tournament two years ago. Both stints also ended up in a pair of gold medals for the Americans.
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