It doesn?t look like Guyana stylist Gairy St. Clair will be consensus world featherweight boxing champion Manny Pacquiao?s next opponent after all.
Instead, Thai veteran Fahsan 3-K Battery, a former World Boxing Federation (WBF) bantamweight titlist, looms as Pacquiao?s foe in a non-title bout here on Dec. 4.
Pacquiao?s business manager Rod Nazario told The Star yesterday negotiations are being finalized to bring Fahsan to Manila for the fight billed as a tuneup for the Juan Manuel Marquez rematch in Las Vegas on Feb. 26.
St. Clair was demoted in the order of battle because he will likely run more than fight in a Pacquiao faceoff. The Australia-based fighter is known for his footwork and boxing skills. Lack of power is why St. Clair isn?t inclined to brawl and go toe-to-toe.
“We don?t want to see Manny chasing his opponent all over the ring,” said Pacquiao?s US promoter Murad Muhammad who?s in town to iron out the details of the match. “We want to give Manny?s Filipino fans their money?s worth. We want a competitive fight. We want an opponent who can give Manny trouble. We want to see Manny at his best.”
Fahsan, 30, is a fighter who?ll engage Pacquiao in a slugfest without backing down. His record is 44-7-1 with 23 KOs. Filipinos seem to be his favorite victims as he has beaten at least 20, including the likes of Nathan Barcelona, Ramil Anito, Jaime Acerda, Joebar Damosmog, Eugene Gonzales, Ricky Sales and Archie Ano-os.
Pacquiao left the country to train in Freddie Roach?s gym in Los Angeles last Sept. 8 and returned a month later with no confirmed fight booking. Nazario said Pacquiao will not go back to the US until after the Manila bout.
“Manny will continue his training in Davao,” said Nazario. “Two or three weeks before the fight, he will move to Manila and finish off his workouts.”
Pacquiao is now in Manila competing in the Philippine 9-Ball Billiards Open.
A reliable source said Muhammad will deliver a whopping $500,000 purse for Pacquiao in the coming match. The source added that Pacquiao has already advanced about P5 million from Nazario and Muhammad.
Muhammad is expected to call a press conference shortly to announce the final details of the fight.
Fahsan, a southpaw like Pacquiao, stopped Pirus Boy of Indonesia in the first round to win the vacant WBF bantamweight crown in Surat Thani in February 1999. He halted Duncan Magubane of South Africa in his first defense six months later then relinquished the crown. Fahsan went on to capture the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Intercontinental bantamweight and Pan Pacific superbantamweight titles. He is ranked No. 4 by the IBF in the 122-pound division.
Last May, Fahsan traveled to the US to meet Art Simonyan in an IBF superbantamweight title eliminator. He lost by a unanimous decision. The Thai nearly floored Simonyan in the ninth round when he landed a vicious left cross to the body and staggered the Armenian with a left counter, 40 seconds to go.
Boxing News writer Jim Brady said Fahsan is “a veteran of Muay Thai fighting and (is) used to getting whacked with bamboo poles and training on ground glass.”
Fahsan, whose real name is Narongrit Pirang, belongs to the same stable as Pacquiao?s conqueror Medgoen Singsurat.
Nazario said he offered Medgoen a spot in the undercard to fight rising superflyweight prospect Z Gorres but the Thai refused to venture overseas.
Fahsan turned pro in 1992 and lost his first four outings on points. But he regrouped to capture the Thai featherweight diadem in only his ninth fight. In 1995, Fahsan dropped a decision to Tony Wehbee of Australia in a bid for the WBF superbantamweight crown. Four years later, he won the WBF bantamweight belt.
Pacquiao has a tendency to take opponents lightly in non-title fights. And he has paid dearly for it.
Last year, he was decked by Serik Yeshmangbetov in the fourth round of a non-title contest before flooring the tough Kazakh twice in the fifth to score a knockout at the Luneta.
Pacquiao has been knocked down only by Rustico Torrecampo, Medgoen, Nedal Hussein, Yeshmangbetov and Marco Antonio Barrera in a career that started in 1995. He hasn?t lost since the Medgoen debacle in 1999. Pacquiao is unbeaten in his last 14 fights and boasts a record of 38-2-2, with 30 KOs.
