By Nick Giongco
Lucas Matthysse will take a page from the book of Juan Manuel Marquez when he defends his world welterweight crown against Manny Pacquiao on July 15 in Malaysia.
Joel Diaz, who trains the Argentine champion, believes repeating Marquez’s one-punch knockout of Pacquiao in December 2002 can happen again.
“Marquez wasn’t really strong but he had timing (and) if you time (Pacquiao), wait for the right opportunity, you can land the same punch,” Diaz told Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN Deportes.
Diaz has been training Matthysse in Indio, California, the past several months and they plan to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at least 10 days before the fight that will take place at the 16,000-capacity Axiata Arena.
Another factor that Team Matthyssee sees as a big plus is Pacquiao’s age.
“Pacquiao is no longer the same five years ago and he doesn’t have the same reflexes and is almost 40 years old,” Diaz said.
Still, Diaz maintains that it would be foolish to take him lightly.
“But we cannot underestimate him,” he added.
