By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Ring Magazine featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao gave millions of his countrymen to whom he is a hero and a national treasure an evening of unforgettable thrills with his fourth round knockout of gallant Thai contender Fahsan 3K Battery, but in the eyes of his corner and members of Team Pacquiao as well as respected boxing men Pacquiao was far from ready to take on WBA/IBF champion Juan Manuel Marquez in their much-awaited rematch scheduled for February 26 by international promoter Murad Muhammad and HBO Sports.
While Pacquiao demonstrated his devastating punching power to ultimately put an end to the visibly smaller Fahsan, his timing was off and he was clearly not in condition as he appeared to be breathing heavily through his mouth as early as the third round, showing that the two weeks of intense training under Freddie Roach were far from adequate for a tough fight. Although Roach didn’t indicate he was too disappointed with Pacquiao’s performance he has made it clear that he would “like to see Manny leave for LA the day after Christmas if that is possible” so he could get to work right away in preparation for the Marquez rematch, reminding Pacquiao that the champion “is right now training at an altitude of ten thousand feet and is a condition freak” and is determined to erase the ignominy of his three knockdowns in the first round last May.
Well-known cutman Lenny De Jesus who is also a trainer and owns a gym in New York and was flown in by Murad to help Pacquiao in the fight against Fahsan told Viva Sports/Manila Standard “ Manny’s timing was off and he was not in the condition he needs to be in, for Marquez. He’s got to take this very seriously” and suggested that after a one week break he should “get back to work.” Respected South Korean
businessman-sportsman Kusung Lee who manages WBC featherweight champion Injin Chi said Pacquiao reminded him of how Injin Chi looked bad in his last title defense when he took challenger Eiichi Sugama for granted, didn’t train hard and almost lost his title before his power and courage enabled him to win by an eighth round KO.
Kusung Lee said that if Pacquiao fought Injin Chi last night the flamboyant Filipino southpaw would have been knocked out, adding Fahsan was “too small, not a top class fighter but brave.”
With a big birthday bash scheduled for December 17 in his hometown of General Santos City, the Christmas season upon us and a reported shooting schedule with action star Robin Padilla set for the first week of January for an ABS-CBN reality boxing show, the chances of Roach getting his wish appeared remote.
Pacquiao attended a victory celebration at the Discovery Suites sporting a welt under his right eye while Fahsan and the entire Thai delegation showed up ahead of him with Fahsan’s manager Jimmy Chaitchotchaung apologizing to fans for what he felt may be considered a disappointing performance by his fighters. “I am sorry” he said even as Fahsan admitted that Pacquiao was “too fast” for him to handle although he said he hurt Pacquiao with a solid punch in the second round but couldn’t follow through. DeJesus admitted “Fahsan caught Manny with a good shot and I told Freddie in-between rounds to tell Manny not to fool around because he might be accidentally cut or something. Get to work, take this guy out and let’s go home.” Pacquiao did exactly that with a vicious right that sent Fahsan crashing to the canvas while over 30,000 screaming fans jumped to their feet.
Pacquiao did get the job done but deep down inside of him both he and his handlers know, there’s a lot of hard work ahead because Fahsan 3K Battery is nowhere near as charged up as Juan Manuel Marquez.
