Argentine warrior Lucas Matthysse is hugely excited and motivated ahead of his July rumble with all-time great Manny Pacquiao. “The Machine” also considers himself the challenger, even though it will be he who will be defending his, secondary, WBA welterweight strap in Malaysia.
Matthysse, proud of his fighting heritage, compares his upcoming fight with big chances, big opportunities his fighting countrymen had in years gone by:
“[Oscar] Bonavena fought Ali, Chino Maidana fought Mayweather and it’s my turn to fight Pacquiao,” Matthysse said as quoted by ABS-CBN News. “I feel happy. It’s very exciting to fight Manny Pacquiao, a boxing legend. For me, as an athlete, it’s very big to face a monster like him.”
Matthysse is pumped up and ready to go, but Pacquiao is the star of the show, no doubt. But is Pac-Man done, or close to done – finished, even? As fans know, the 39 year old future Hall of Famer lost his last fight, in July of last year, when he was shocked and decisioned by a hugely motivated and pumped up Jeff Horn. Has Manny got the eye of the tiger back for this one, a must-win fight?
If we do see the old Manny, and not just an old Manny, might we even see the former multi-weight king score that thing that has been so scarce on his record over the last (quite amazingly) nine years: namely a KO victory? With the styles belonging to these two action fighters, it seems fans will be as excited as Matthysse is come the first bell until however long the fight takes to reach its conclusion.
There are a few good reasons to believe that this one will not go the distance. Who wins? That depends on which monster – monster fighter Pacquiao or monster puncher Matthysse – has the most left to offer. Even Bob Arum says he sees this fight as “pretty even.”
Rough and tough heavyweight Bonavena lost his big fight with Ali, while tough and rough welterweight Maidana also came up short in his two goes with Floyd. It’s now up to Mattyhsse to give his passionate fans the result they all want.
