DAVAO CITY ? Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao is raring to finish off IBF No.4 super bantamweight Fahsan 3K Battery when they fight on Dec. 11 at The Fort in Taguig.
“Gusto ko nang tapusin agad ang laban. Handang-handa na ako. Hindi ako takot (I want to finish the fight early. I am ready. I am never afraid),” Pacquaio told The STAR in an inteview yesterday at the Almendras Gym where he holds his daily afternoon training.
Pacquaio said he is taking his fight with the Thai contender seriously, dishing out same intensity and commitment as he did in past fights.
“I trust Manny?s commitment and dedication to the fight. He has not lost focus at all. He is working very hard, I can see that,” said American trainer Freddie Roach.
The noted trainer likewise stressed he has been working on further developing Pacquaio?s right hand. “I want to make him a complete boxer that he would be good with both hands,” Roach said.
Pacquiao was in high spirits during yesterday?s training at the Almendras Gym. He kidded a lot with the crowd that milled around the gym and even pretended to be rehearsing for a basketball game and not a boxing match.
Lito Mondejar, Pacquiao?s local trainer, said the champion has run up 54 of the 77 total sparring rounds they have targeted for the entire duration of his training period before his fight with Fahsan.
“The last sparring match would be on Saturday and that would be four rounds,” Mondejar said.
Pacquiao is expected to fly to Manila on Thursday after the scheduled last sparring session with Philippine lightweight champion Fernando Montilla.
Mondejar said Pacquiao has improved a lot on his pace especially when Roach arrived last week. “Since Roach arrived, Manny has never been the same and he has taken his training seriously.”
Roach is confident his ward could go the 12-round distance. “He could make it even just now,” Roach said.
