Pacquiao in crucial fight against Hernandez today

Will Filipino boxer Bobby Pacquiao make a name for himself or stay in the shadow of his big brother Manny Pacquiao?

The answer to this question hinges on how Pacquiao will fare against the slightly favored Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez of El Salvador today at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The fight serves as one of the undercards of the keenly-awaited WBO/IBF lightweight unification bout between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, which was reduced into a non-title match due to Castillo's failure to make the required weight of 130 lbs.

Although the underdog, Bobby Pacquiao is expected to climb up the ring with a high morale, coming off a spectacular seventh round knockout of Mexican Carlos Navarro to wrest the WBC Continental Americas super featherweight title last June 17 at the Table Mountain Casino in California.

Pacquiao, who will be cheered on at the ringside by his brother Manny Pacquiao and wife Lorelie, said he trained and worked hard for this fight and he will do everything to win this most defining bout of his career so far.

"Nakapaghanda ako ng matagal para sa laban na ito at gagawin ko ang lahat para manalo para sa aking pamilya, bansa at fans," said Pacquiao, who scaled in a 130, two pounds lighter than Hernandez, during the official weigh-in at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Noted American ring tactician Freddie Roach said Pacquiao is now a completely different boxer and the 2004 Trainer of the Year awardee is confident of a victory by the General Santos City fighter.

"Bobby's confidence has grown greatly since that fight. In fact, when I watch him spar, I go, 'Who is this guy?' He's not the same Bobby Pacquiao, believe me. I was really worried about Carlos Hernandez because I know Carlos is a real tough, hard guy and this is going to be a tough fight," said Roach.

"But I love our chances right now. I thought Bobby always had a chance if he trained hard and so forth. He's done the work. The thing is, he's dedicated himself for some reason, something changed in him over the Navarro fight," added Roach.

Hernandez, on the other hand, expects Pacquiao to come out firing and make a statement.

"He looks strong and focused and I know he will try to be his own man in this fight," said the 34-year-old Hernandez.

On paper, Hernandez is way ahead of Pacquiao owing to his 41-5-1 win-loss-draw record spiked with 24KOs. Pacquiao carries a 25-11-3 win-loss-draw slate with 11KOs. Unlike Pacquiao though, Hernandez lost in his last fight via split decision to Mexican idol Jesus Chavez in their WBC super featherweight eliminator last May 28 at the Staples Center in LA.