THE FUTURE of Manny Pacquiao will be decided this evening. Whether the entire nation will get to see him lock horns again with the crafty Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in late-February 2005 will be known tonight when Pacquiao squares off with Fahsan 3K Battery of Thailand at The Fort in Taguig.
And if he beats Marquez, Pacquiao would be in line to meet Erik Morales in July and Marco Antonio Barrera in November, all in 2005.
No less than a spectacular victory is being laid out, but Fahsan has vowed to derail Pacquiao?s plans for a party at the Discovery Suites after the fights.
During yesterday?s official weigh-in, Pacquiao tipped the scales at 125 lbs, while Fahsan came in at 124. The limit is 126 lbs.
“I am ready to go,” declared Pacquiao after taking beef steak and rice following the weigh in.
Pacquiao, The Ring magazine featherweight champion, has refrained from making predictions but assured his fans that he will not let them down.
“Tama na yang puro daldal. Mga kamao ko na lang ang pagsasalitain ko,” added Pacquiao, who is planning to stage a big bash to celebrate his 26th birthday on Dec. 17 in General Santos City.
Speaking through his manager and interpreter, Jimmy Chaichotchuang, Fahsan said he is raring to pull off a surprise tonight.
“As I have told all of you, I came here to win and not to get knocked out,” said Fahsan, a southpaw like Pacquiao who has made it a habit to victimize Filipino fighters.
Pacquiao has only trained close to a month for this fight, and the arrival of his American trainer over three weeks ago prevented the flashy Filipino from making a mess of his training.
“I think we have done enough in the gym for this fight,” said Roach. “I don?t have any major concerns for this fight. I believe he will win convincingly.”
Pacquiao sports a 38-2-2 win-loss-draw card with 29 knockouts, while Fahsan packs a 44-7-1 slate with 23 knockouts.
Pacquiao hasn?t seen action since being held to a 12-round majority draw by Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas seven months ago.
Meanwhile, Ferdie Estrella will be the third man on the ring when Pacquiao and Fahsan answer the bell signaling the start of the scheduled 12-round clash top-billed “Yanig sa Taguig.”
The three judges at ringside are Bruce McTavish, Epi Almeda and Ricardo Canlas. The fight supervisor is Games and Amusements Board chairman Eduardo Villanueva and he will be assisted by boxing division head Noli Flores.
Estrella, 52, is coming off a judging stint in last week?s World Boxing Association featherweight title match between Indonesian titleholder Chris John and Venezuelan challenger Jose “Cheo” Rojas in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
