I don’t know Manny Pacquiao well enough to even hazard a guess as to whether the major league misstep, in which he insulted the world’s gay population, weighs on his mind, and could be even a minor factor in his prep for the April 9 clash against Tim Bradley.

But I have to consider (and I think you could if you’re a Pacquiao fan and rooting for him to handle the Cali-based Bradley in their third waltz) that this situation could be affecting him.

He told Lance Pugmire of the LA Times Monday that he didn’t want to go there and then proceeded to offer up some “clarification” of his true motivation for that spoken entry into same-sex rights and practices. It’s on his mind, fair to say, and why wouldn’t it be? How couldn’t it be?

Manny’s worn the halo since he burst on the scene in 2001 and wide and hard in 2003, with a hiccup here and there.

Now, there are definitely camps of pro-Manny “Pac-o-lytes” and a healthy batch of folks who’ve forever written him off. Some of them had already started writing when they didn’t care for a perceived lack of aggressive urgency on the part of the lefty ultra-vet in his tango with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Citing a shoulder injury instead of giving master craftsman Mayweather full credit, furthermore, was not the sign of the evolved sportsman who’d undergone a spiritual transformation in 2013, Pac attackers noted.

Coach Roach, the Manny consigliere, the ward of the Wild Card Boxing Club, told me that flap never comes up. “It hasn’t come up once,” the Massachusetts native said. “It has nothing to do with the fight.”

Seems like, then, Roach isn’t feeling like the issue weighs heavy on Manny’s shoulders. Of course we all know that subject could be state secret stuff, and the prying media eyes and ears won’t be privy to knowing to what degree it distracts “Pacman.” Put it this way, having that public relations hit, coupling it with the Senate race hanging over his head, these factors won’t be AIDING his preparation for a most dialed-in Bradley.

Speaking of Coach Roach, isn’t it about time someone parked a roach coach outside of Gleasons Gym? Woodsy isn’t asking for himself, of course. We’re just asking in general…

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