Tremor, tremble, shudder, shake, quake. These English words are the equivalent of the Tagalog “Yanig” which foretells what happens when two hard hitting fighters collide for boxing glory.
Ring Magazine and People’s Featherweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao stakes his lofty recognition as the world’s supreme featherweight today when he trades bombs with Fahsan 3K Battery on December 11 in Taguig City, Philippines.
Would the fight live up with the “yanig” as strong as its hype? For sure there would be tremor the intensity of which depends on who comes out the victor.
A Pacquiao win would produce a lesser intensity quake than a Fahsan win would.
A Pacquiao win is expected by many fight enthusiasts especially now that world famous trainer Freddie Roach gave an assurance of Manny’s readiness for the fight. Roach had to come to the Philippines to make sure Pacquiao is in tip top shape when he climbs the ring for the fight. Roach was heard as saying that as to when the thud from the Pacquiao KO punch lands on Fahsan to send the challenger to the canvas for the much louder thud depends on Manny himself.
The deafening sound of victory that would follow – shouts of joy and stumps of feet – would propel Manny to the more challenging and career defining rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez in February 2005.
Fahsan is gifted with an opportunity of a lifetime. Although he lost his last fight with Pacquiao spar mate Art Simonyan, he rises up from the loss to grab the chance enticingly dangled to him to land his own bombs on Pacquiao and claim honor for himself and his country.
A Fahsan win would rock not only Taguig. The temblor would be felt throughout the boxing world.
Manny stakes not only his universal recognition, albeit arguably, of being the best featherweight today. A loss would derail the megabuck fights already lined up against Marquez, possibly Erik Morales and new super-featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera.
More so, a loss to a lightly regarded foe would break the hearts of Manny’s countrymen and fans the world over.
Whatever the outcome, this December 11 fight in Taguig would surely produce a “Yanig”.
