After Lucas Matthysse, who will Manny Pacquiao fight next?
By Leo Reyes
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 09 Jun 2018
After officially announcing his next fight against Lucas Matthysse of Argentina, eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao has stated he will continue fighting and expressed his desire to fight in Manila soon.
Pacquiao?s next possible opponents would depend on the result of his upcoming fight against Matthysse. If he is victorious, he can look forward to a possible clash with either Vasyl Lomachengko or Terence Crawford, assuming the unbeaten Omaha native wins over Jeff Horn of Australia over the weekend in Las Vegas.
Lomachengko is fresh from his TKO victory against Jorge Linares on May 12, 2018 at the Madison Square Garden in New York,
Pacquiao?s longtime promoter Bob Arum is eager to arrange a fight between Lomachengko and Pacquiao before the end of the year. A win by Pacquiao against Matthysse on July 15 in Kuala Lumpur could cement the Lomachengco-Pacquiao fight in Manila.
"It's one of my plans, fighting Lomachenko," Pacquiao said on ESPN during the press conference of the Fight of Champions last April in Kuala Lumpur to promote the Pacquiao-Matthysse fight.
"My plan is to have a fight here in Manila, either Lomachenko or anybody as long as it's here in Manila," he said. "It will be exciting." Pacquiao added.
While Pacquiao did not say if the planned Manila fight will be his last, a win over Lomachengko would probably trigger a series of fights that could ultimately culminate in a lucrative fight between Pacquiao and Crawford.
Pacquiao is preparing for his fight against Matthysse in his General Santos City Gym without his longtime coach and trainer Freddie Roach. With him in the camp is Buboy Fernandez acting as his head trainer for the Matthysse fight and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
Fernandez and Fortune have agreed to shorten Pacquiao?s activities in the camp particularly during sparring sessions. Pacquiao used to spar for as long as he wants in previous training but Fortune believes age is catching up on Pacquiao and his time for strenuous activities needs to be shortened.
?We started the camp earlier than we used to in Manny?s previous fights. And it?s turning out to be just the right thing to do,? Fortune told Philboxing?s Eddie Alinea.
?There?s no problem with starting the camp early actually provided we cut the hours short,? Fortune added. ?Which we have done. We, likewise, started sparring as early as last week but on a staggered and shortened frequency, ?he added.
When Pacquiao announced his fight against Matthysse, he claimed he was the underdog but barely a month after his announcement, a licensed bookmaker in Australia debunked his underdog claim, giving him a 68 percent chance of winning against Matthysse?s 39.2 percent. (https://www.philstar.com/sports/2018/04/06/1803296/betting-lines-pacquiao-favored-over-matthysse)
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