Buboy Fernandez doesn’t see the Manny Pacquiao-Lucas Matthysee fight going the distance.
With the fighters capable of either a one-punch knockout or a stoppage through a flurry of punches, Fernandez said one of them will eventually be caught napping in their duel for Matthysse’s World Boxing Association welterweight crown and suffering the consequence.
Fernandez is confident it will be Pacquiao who’ll remain standing when the final bell rings at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on July 15.
Asked whether Pacquiao’s camp has prepared a special knockout punch or combinations against Matthysse, Fernandez texted, “Opo.”
Though Pacquiao hasn’t scored a knockout since a 12-round stoppage of Puerto Rican legend Miguel Cotto in 2009, Fernandez believes the eight-division world champion is out to prove that he’s still a punching dynamo.
Already at the tail end of an illustrious career, Pacquiao knows the Matthysse fight will determine whether he can still fight on or whether he needs to hang up his gloves.
Having attained optimum form, Pacquiao was allowed to relax in training on Friday.
While Pacquiao is already reaping the fruits of 10 weeks of hard labor, Matthysse is groping to recover his bearing and timing.
Arriving ahead of Pacquiao on Thursday, Matthysse made sure his effort won’t go to waste by going into training just a few hours after arriving from Los Angeles on Thursday.
Trainer Joel Diaz said Matthysse has had to shake off jet lag and adjust his body clock because of the time difference between Kuala Lumpur and California.
Apart from these two factors, Diaz told Malaysian media that Matthysse’s training was centered on how to neutralize a very good southpaw such as Pacquiao.
Matthysse said he’s entirely focused on Pacquiao because he believes fighting a legend such as him would ultimately define his ring career.
