AN AWFUL underdog, Fahsan 3K Battery of Thailand yesterday saw something strange in Manny Pacquiao’s body. It flashed as a ray of hope that said the Filipino ring idol could be beaten.
Fahsan, 30, relied on keen native sense, handed down to him by his poor farmer folks from southern Thailand, to read into Pacquiao’s physique.
Fahsan told the Inquirer through his English-speaking manager that Pacquiao is not in peak form.
“We are hundred-percent sure he (Pacquiao) is not in the best condition,” explained Jimmy Chachotochuang, Fahsan’s manager.
Chachotochuang said this information was relayed to him by Fahsan after his fighter had intently observed Pacquiao limbering on the floor after working with the punch mitts at the Wild Card Gym in Para?aque City.
Fahsan explained that he noticed the physical imperfection through the uneven trickling of sweat from Pacquiao’s muscular body.
“He just swear something was wrong,” Chachotochuang explained.
The Thai manager, however, was quick to concede that Pacquiao enjoys an enormous edge in speed and power.
But he said Pacquiao could indeed be unbeatable if he’s coming in on Saturday in the same condition he had when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez last May.
“I think Pacquiao, at best, is only 80 percent,” Fahsan’s manager said.
And how prepared is Fahsan himself?
“A hundred and 10 percent,” he quipped confidently.
He bragged, for example, that Fahsan had completed a total 90 rounds of sparring in two months.
Pacquiao totaled 76 rounds of sparring in less than two months.
The Thai camp added that they had followed Pacquiao’s training through local reports on the Internet.
“At best, he had thorough training for only three weeks, and that’s very insufficient,” the Thai fight manager said.
Fahsan butted in and mumbled something in Thai.
Translated, Pacquiao’s foe said it would be wrong for the RP boxing hero to underestimate him.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, however, insisted his fighter would be 100 percent come Saturday night.
