ARMED with less than a hundred rounds of sparring mostly under the watchful eyes of Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao arrives from Davao tonight supremely confident that his ambitious
Thai foe would pay dearly for even thinking he is coming to Manila to ruin his future plans.
“I am not particular about the number of sparring rounds,” said Roach, who conducts a two-day clinic next week at the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines gym. “We can make up for it some other way.”
Pacquiao is penciled to engage Juan Manuel Marquez in a rematch on Feb. 26 in Las Vegas and is using the Fahsan fight as a buildup for such megabuck matchup with the Mexican who showed too much bravado the first they met in May by getting up from three knockdowns in the first round.
Before heading back to Thailand a few weeks back after attending a press conference that formally launched the Dec. 11 bout at the fort in Taguig, Fahsan predicted he would shame Pacquiao in front of adoring countrymen.
“Let?s just see what will happen on fight night,” said Pacquiao after another bruising workout at the Almendras gym.
“I have grand plans for 2005. If possible, I would like to fight the big names of the featherweight and super-featherweight division,” said Pacquiao referring to Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.
Promoter Murad Muhammad wants Pacquiao to agree to sign the contract to fight Morales sometime in July for $1.750 million because HBO wants to finalize the date at the soonest possible time.
Of course, a fight with Morales depends on the outcome of his rematch with Marquez.
In the event Pacquiao triumphs past Marquez and repulses Morales, a September or October rematch with Barrera will be held.
Barrera returned to the picture following his rousing victory over Morales last week.
Pacquiao immediately issued a challenge to Barrera, but the Mexican turned a deaf ear when calls made by Pacquiao?s representatives started to come.
Roach said he wants Pacquiao to report to the wild card in Hollywood in the first week of January to prepare for the Marquez fight.
