PHILIPPINES–Expect some tremors to be felt in the country today with its epicenter at the newly-installed city of Taguig.
That is the boxing world’s weather forecast for today as Filipino ring icon Manny “The Destroyer” Pacquiao trades bombs with the very confident Thai warrior Fahsan 3K Battery in a scheduled 12-round people’s featherweight championship topbilling the “Yanig sa Taguig” fight card in an open air arena at The Fort in Taguig, Metro Manila.
During yesterday’s official weigh-in at the Forbes Town Center, the 27-year-old Pacquiao weighed 125 pounds, just one pound shy from the featherweight limit, while Fahsan tipped in the scale at 124 pounds. “I’ll do everything I can to come up with a fight that is something my fellow Filipino countrymen can be proud of. I could not assure a knockout win, let’s just wait and see when I get into the ring,” said the Ring Magazine and people’s featherweight champion Pacquiao.
Being the heavy favorite heading into the battlefield, the worst enemy Pacquiao has to conquer is overconfidence.
Pacquiao has nothing to gain, but everything to lose in this fight and if the General Santos City-native ring executioner doesn’t take care of business well, he is in danger of losing all the lucrative paydays ahead of him.
American promoter Murad Muhammad has already booked Pacquiao to a pair of megabuck ring dates with Mexican greats WBA/IBF featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez on February 26 and WBC super featherweight titlist Erik Morales sometime in July.
Although the underdog, the spunky Fahsan showed some nerve by declaring that he is out to shake up Taguig and the entire world boxing community as well. “I will give Manny Pacquiao big disappointment. I will knock him out. I’m in great shape and ready to stand and fight,” boasted Fashan, who is known as the “Filipino Destroyer” for having beaten 20 Filipinos, mostly via stoppage, in his 44 victories as a pro. Fahsan, who is a southpaw like Pacquiao, has never been knocked out in his career and the challenge is now up to Pacquiao to break the trend.
Pacquiao sports an impressive 38-2-2 win-loss-draw credential with 30 wins by knockout. He hasn’t fought since figuring in a controversial split draw with Marquez in their Fight of the Year showdown last May 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Revered American trainer Freddie Roach, who is widely credited for Pacquiao’s tremendous rise into boxing fame, is optimistic that his ward could get past Fahsan easily. “Manny is just too quick and too strong for Fahsan,” said Roach, even as he also admitted that the Thai fighter as durable and tough.
ALA BOYS IN ACTION Three promising wards of Cebu’s ALA Boxing Stable lead by super flyweight contender Z “The Dream” Gorres will display their punching might against separate foes in the equally-exciting undercards.
Gorres will take on Fahsan’s stablemate Chaiyong Distar in a scheduled 10-rounder collision. RP super bantamweight champion Reynald Tribo will take on Joemar Damosmog, while minimumweight prospect Rollen del Castillo will slug it out with Steve Dimaisip for six rounds.
Also set to see action is RP No.2 super featherweight contender Dexter Delada of Rex “Wakee” Salud Stable, who will collide with Arnel Porras.
Dindo eyes WBF title today ALA Stable standout Dindo “Diesel” Casta?ares shoots for crowning glory today as he battles New Zealand-based Colombian Guillermo “Pantera” Mosquera for the vacant World Boxing Foundation light welterweight crown at the ETA Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
The two protagonists were both one kilogram over the weight limit two nights ago, but during yesterday’s official weigh-in, Mosquera was able to shed extra poundage, while Casta?ares was still .2 over the 63-kilogram boundary.
In a gesture of sportsmanship, however, Pantera and the New Zealand Boxing Commission just considered Casta?ares weight without reducing. “Dindo (Casta?ares) is highly motivated to bring home the belt,” said international promoter Sammy “Don King” Gello-ani.
An all-out war is expected to break out between the two hard-punching combatants as they are similarly dead set to fulfill their respective mission. Casta?ares is hoping not only to cast away the bad spell that kept on tailing him everytime he fights abroad but also to become the Philippines’ next world boxing champion, while Mosquera, if victorious, will marry his Italian girlfriend on top the ring right after the bout.
Casta?ares though carries a heavy load on his shoulders knowing the fact that the power-hitting Cebuano punisher absorbed all his three defeats on foreign shores – all by knockout.
Casta?ares lost twice in Tokyo, Japan to OPBF champion Masakazu Satake (KO8) and Venezuelan Richard Reina (TKO2) last year. He was then floored in the third round by Indonesian Aswin Tjabuy in his last fight on July 6, 2004 at the RCTI Studio in Jakarta, Indonesia.
If triumphant, Casta?ares will become RP’s second WBF champion next to Gerry Pe?alosa who flattened Thai Bangsaen Sithproprom in the second round to wrest the WBF super flyweight diadem two weeks ago in Manila. The 23-year-old Casta?ares, 14-3-1-10KOs, will surely have a difficult time against the much experienced Mosquera, who parades a 38-5-1 win-loss-draw record packed with 19KOs.
Since losing via sixth round TKO to Jan Bergan for the WBU welterweight plum, Mosquera came back with vengeance, knocking out both Iona Tana Taooala and Peter Warren in just one round in his previous two fights this year.-
