Pacquiao schedules fight around Celtics' Game 7

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MIAMIFor those who are planning to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight on Saturday, you might want to check out the Boston Celtics and Miami's Game 7 matchup first.

Because Pacquiao, a die-hard Celtics fan, isn't going to throw a single punch until the C's game is over.

"I'm not waiting for Manny's request on this one," said fight promoter Bob Arum, who issued a statement indicating that the Saturday night main event between Pacquiao and Bradley in Las Vegas would not begin until after the C's-Heat game concluded.

"Now Manny, the Heat, the Celtics and sports fans watching the basketball game won't have to make a choice between events," said Arum, who added that the undercard fights would begin at 9 p.m. "They will be able to watch both."

To hear that Pacquiao's fight was being delayed did not come as a surprise to Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.

"He's a Celtics fan. What do you expect?" Rivers said. "Pretty cool, though. That's cool."

Last season, Pacquiao left boxing gloves inside the locker room for the Celtics prior to them playing the Memphis Grizzlies.

"Pacquiao is a huge Celtic fan," Rivers said at the time. "He tried to get to our shoot-around, our walk-through at the ball room before we played (at) the Lakers. But he didn't make it. So he just sent that to us. It's nice. It's a good gesture."

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