When Ring Magazine featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao steps into the ring at The Fort in Taguig at 9 p.m. today against the International Boxing Federation no. 6 Fahsan 3K Battery, it will be ?a time for revenge.?
And if Pacquiao has his way ? and he says he will ? vengeance will be swift with an early knockout on the cards.
Fahsan has beaten all of his 22 Filipino opponents. And Pacquiao is only too willing to avenge all of their setbacks.
Both international promoter Murad Muhammad and trainer Freddie Roach cautioned Pacquiao against taking Fahsan, who has beaten more than 20 Filipinos, most of them by knockout, lightly. They pointed out that he?s got some power in his left hand, is tough and durable and will come to fight and not run away to avoid the awesome power of the flamboyant Filipino southpaw.
The first appearance of Pacquiao before a hometown crowd since his 11th-round demolition of legendary Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio, Texas on Nov. 15 last year and his controversial draw with World Boxing Association/IBF champion Juan Manuel Marquez last May, is presented by the Smart, Talk N Text in cooperation with Solar Sports and the assistance of Mayor Freddie Tinga of Taguig and Discovery Suites, which is home to the fight personalities.
Pacquiao, in a conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard, said he would follow the instructions of his handlers and not fool around, promising to put Fahsan away within two or three rounds and making sure the judges won?t have any hand in the decision, adding that all he needed was for the referee to know how to count from one to 10.
Roach said Fahsan has a weakness in that he ?brings his hands real low after he throws a punch and leaves himself wide open and Manny will take advantage of that. Manny is so much faster and stronger than this guy, so it should end in a couple of rounds although we are prepared to go 12 rounds if we have to.?
Roach emphasized: ?I don?t believe in carrying people and if Manny can finish him in one round, that will be great for me,? even as he indicated that a devastating knockout by Pacquiao will send shivers down the spine of Marquez, whom he is scheduled to meet in a much-awaited rematch on Feb. 26.
Pacquiao, who was mobbed by fans, many of them young women at the official weigh-in supervised by Games and Amusements Board chairman Eduardo Villanueva and boxing division chief Noli Flores, came in at a trim 125 pounds, one pound under the featherweight limit.
