A 39-year-old Manny Pacquiao heads to Kuala Lumpur on July 15 to prove that his career is not yet over by snatching the WBA welterweight championship from the dangerous Argentinean, Lucas Matthysse.
The 35-year-old Matthysse will be looking to shove Pac-Man further into official retirement by adding a second successive major loss to his incredible professional record, following on from the unanimous decision loss to Jeff Horn in Australia in July 2017.
DANGEROUS OPPONENT
Matthysse, who captured the vacant WBA title in January, has already claimed that the Filipino is no longer the same fighter he used to be since his devastating knockout loss against rival Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
Everybody knows that despite only capturing one title compared to the championships Pacquiao has captured in a staggering eight different weight divisions, La Maquina’s aggressive pressure fighting style and his power could give Pacquiao more problems than he could potentially handle.
However, long-time promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank has already shared the potential mega-fight that Pacquiao could feature in once the Matthysse fight is in the books - if it goes well in Kuala Lumpur.
When speaking to Fight Hub, Arum revealed that despite there being many big names in the firing line, Pacquiao could end up being the star that ends up fighting the dangerous Vasyl Lomachenko this winter.
According to Boxing News 24, he said: “There’s a lot of great opponents at 135. There’s a lot of great champions. There’s [Ray] Beltran, there’s [Mikey] Garcia, and there’s a lot of fights for him.
“He might go up in weight and do a catchweight fight against [Manny] Pacquiao this winter. We’ll see. I’m talking to not a boxer but a senator.
“It’s a very tough fight for Manny,” Arum said of Pacquiao’s upcoming clash against Matthysse in Malaysia. “He’s not as fast or as manoeuvrable as he once was. He’s approaching 40. He has his work cut out for him. It’s been over 20 years [for Pacquiao] that he’s been a pro, and he’s now going to be 40.”
PAC-MAN VS. HI-TECH
Clearly, the chances of seeing Pacquiao entering The Matrix and battling Hi-Tech is down to both men being able to get through their next, tough opponents. Pacquiao has Matthysse while the Ukrainian has arguably the toughest test of his career to date against Jorge Linares in his 12th professional fight this Saturday night in Madison Square Garden.
If both men are successful, then Arum believes this is the biggest fight to make for both men this winter.
He added: “If he’s successful with Matthysse and Lomo is successful with his coming fight with Linares and another fight, then they’ll probably meet in the winter at a catchweight of 140. Manny fights at 144.
“The Pacquiao [vs. Lomachenko] is the much bigger fight [than Lomachenko vs. Mikey Garcia]. So, I’m looking at that fight in the winter or the late summer if he’s successful. [Lomachenko can] maybe fight Ray Beltran or somebody like that.”
Matthysse is dangerous, and if Pacquiao can overcome this test and wants to continue proving he can hang at the top level and that his career isn’t over, then Lomachenko could the fight that boxing fans around the world tune into.
Will we see Manny Pacquiao take on Vasyl Lomachenko in 2018? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.