Nothing motivates an athlete more than big challenges, especially if they are about facing a legend like Manny Pacquiao. For this reason, the Argentine Lucas Matthysse is getting his bags ready to concentrate in California without being able to hide the excitement and joy for the big fight next July 15th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Matthysse, current World Boxing Association Welterweight Champion since defeating Thailand’s Tewa Kiram last January, said that Pacquiao is the big fight that he was missing, just as Óscar Bonavena had his turn against Muhammad Ali and Marcos ‘Chino’ Maidana before Floyd Mayweather.
“Bonavena fought with Ali, ‘Chino’ Maidana with Mayweather and it’s my turn to fight Pacquiao”, Matthysse (39-4, 36 KO) told reporters in Argentina. “I feel happy, it’s very exciting to fight with Manny Pacquiao, a boxing legend; for me, as an athlete, it is very big to face a monster like him, to enter the ring with him”, he said.
Lucas knows he will not be a favorite to defeat Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KO), but also knows that a win of that size would put him in a very special place in the history of boxing in Argentina and Latin America, so he has promised to give his everything and therefore will travel to California in the coming days to train in Indio with trainer Joel Díaz.
In his successful career, Manny Pacquiao has not been able to get a World Boxing Association title after falling short twice, the first time against Juan Manuel Marquez, disputing the Featherweight Championship, and the second time against Floyd Mayweather, when the Welterweight Championship was at stake.
