Pacquiao vs. Matthysse – RECAP

 
By Tom Donelson / Author, Member Boxing Writers Association of America
 
Last weekend, Manny Pacquiao easily beat Lucas Matthysse and it looked more like a sparring session on a punching bag than a real fight as Matthysse could not handle Pacquiao quicker hands and as the fight progressed, he look more like a fighter who was looking for the right time to end it.  He quit trying to win after the third round and in the fifth, he simply took a knee after a right hand jab.  A Pacquiao upper cut ended the fight.
 
Pacquiao got the WBA regular title with the victory and yes, one has to be impressed by the easy nature of the victory.  Matthysse won his title by beating Tewa Kiram this past January but Matthysse is on his down side of his career and has not been an elite fighter for a long time. 
 

Pacquiao options will be interesting if he is interested in big money fight with the elite fighters including Errol Spence Jr., Terrance Crawford, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia but four of these fighters are part of the PBC and would PBC go outside of their group for fight?  The other option is Vasyl Lomachenko but would Pacquiao go down to lightweight or would Lomachenko go up to 140 pounds?  Jeff Horn wants a rematch and while some pundits would ask why since he is no longer champion, would Pacquiao want a second chance at Horn, if not to show the rest of the boxing world he was the better fighter that night Horn got his decision?  Horn was declared the winner in a close controversial decision but quite a few including yours truly felt Pacquiao won but it was a fight that a few years ago, Pacquiao would have stopped him. 

Pacquiao is now his own manager and has separated from Freddie Roach, so he now has his own career in his hand.  The question is which way he goes and money speaks.  Could Pacquiao entice one of the better welterweights, Crawford, Thurman or Spence into a big fight for their title?  That is a good question and while many of these fighters are busy planning fights against each other, would one of these guys say let take on Pacquiao? 

My own view is that Crawford or Spence would easily beat Pacquiao at this time in his career.  Approaching 40, Pacquiao can’t match Spence’s power or Crawford mobility.  He has had one knock out over the past 9 years that was the recent fight with Matthysse.    The older Pacquiao lost to Jeff Horn, who got clobbered by Crawford and while Pacquiao looked great against Matthysse but as Ted Atlas observed, it easy to look great against a fighter who isn’t fighting back.  Matthysse showed none of his old power and barely even touched Pacquiao throughout the whole fight.   
 
Pacquiao wants a couple of more fights but who?  Pacquiao is also a Philippine Senator so he has another career to deal with besides boxing and how much time does this take away from his boxing career.  This was a highlight for Pacquiao but somehow I get the feeling that this was the fight he should have said good bye and leave with a victory.  Pacquiao will not and the disappointment he suffered it Jeff Horn will be repeated. 

One thought on “Pacquiao vs. Matthysse – RECAP

  1. I agree that Pac looked very good vs Matthysse. It did resemble a tough spar 4 LM. As good as Pac looked, pushing 40 the young lions would be too much for him.

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