By NICK GIONGCO
With his future on the line, Manny Pacquiao wants to win convincingly against Lucas Matthysse on July 15 in Malaysia.
Less than two days after the whirlwind two-city press tour that brought him and the Argentine world welterweight king to Manila and Kuala Kumpur, Pacquiao opened up about what’s down the road after the Matthysse fight.
“My future will be decided on this fight,” Pacquiao told the Bulletin in his palatial Forbes Park home yesterday afternoon.
Pacquiao has plans of fighting onwards but that would largely depend on his performance against the heavy-handed 35-year-old Matthysse.
Nearing 40, Pacquiao admits there is something different about the Matthysse fight that tells him he will snap a decade-long knockout dry spell.
And Matthysse’s willingness to leave himself open is not the sole reason.
After getting within breathing distance with Matthysse several times during the last several days, Pacquiao believes he won’t be at a disadvantage size-wise, something he had ben subjected to the last ten years.
“He’s not big,” said Pacquiao, raising his right hand up to the top of his head to prove his point.
“Unlike before, I was up against big and natural welterweights. Matthysse? He’s just my size,” said Pacquiao, who will be attempting to win the World Boxing Association 147-lb crown in a scheduled 12-rounder at the Axiata Arena.
“I have to win big…score a knockout to show everyone that I still have it,” he said.
“This fight will determine whether I still have a future (in boxing),” Pacquiao said.
Knowing the magnitude of the fight, Pacquiao went out for a morning jog before deciding to spend some quality time with his loved ones.
In the next few days, he will do the same thing and by May 1, ten weeks before the Matthysse fight, Pacquiao will kick off training camp at the Elorde Gym at the Mall of Asia complex.
With his ring future on the line, Pacquiao’s date with Matthysse has suddenly morphed into the biggest fight of his career.
