Lucas Matthysse may have taken note of the fact that he is among the shortlist of possible boxers that Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao could be facing in early 2016.
In fact, such could prove to be motivation for the Argentine boxer to come up with a good showing as he gears up for his showdown with Viktor Postol this coming October 3 which will be held at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Matthysse was among the names mentioned by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum a couple of days ago as Pacquiao’s possible opponents for 2016. Others mentioned by Arum include Juan Manuel Marquez, Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Terrence Crawford. In addition, Matthysse turned in a credible showing against Ruslan Provodnikov whom he defeated via majority decision last April.
“A very big fight with Pacquiao would be my goal. I want to keep fighting the best fighters, in my division and in the game.”
Ironically, that match came barely a month before the celebrated May 2 tiff between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather of course won that one via unanimous decision.
At that time, Matthysse was already upbeat about facing the winner of that fight.
A match with Mayweather is of course immaterial since the American boxer had officially announced his retirement last September 12 so a tiff with Pacquiao seems to be more likely in case Pacquiao’s camp decides to do so.
"I'm ready to take on the next great fighter. I am ready to take on the winner of [Floyd] Mayweather-Pacquiao" says Matthysse in that article from ESPN.
Before looking at a possible joust with Pacquiao however, the Argentine boxer needs to get past Postol first and make a good impression.
Postol, a fighter out of Ukraine is 27-0, 11 coming from knockouts. Both will be slugging it out for the vacant light-welterweight title.
"I'm expecting all action again. It's for the world title," Matthysse said via the LA Times. "That's my style of fighting. I come forward and am prepared to give it all I have in the ring. To just fight. Particularly with this fight, something I really want, I’m prepared to go all the way with it."
It remains to be seen if Arum and Pacquiao would bump up Matthysse as the boxer to meet in what will likely happen by the first quarter of 2016.
Arum did say that Pacquiao has been medically cleared but that he will wait for the official clearance from Dr. Neal ElAttrache before setting anything up.
"We'll have to see (about his next fight)," Arum said during an interview. "I'm not making a fight for Manny Pacquiao until he's 100% cleared by Dr. ElAttrache."
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