By Steve Kim
Following his eight round TKO of Tewa Kiram at The Forum in Los Angeles, Argentinean puncher Lucas Matthysse - who captured the 'regular' version of the WBA welterweight title - expressed interest in facing Manny Pacquiao in the near future.
Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) is hoping that a Pacquiao fight can happen sooner than later.
"I always want to fight with the best. I've already said that I would like to do it again with Danny Garcia or a fight with Manny Pacquiao, and I hope that one of those fights will happen," Matthysse said upon arriving back to a hero's welcome in Argentina.
Those feelings are reciprocated by Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach.
"I love that fight, one of his trainers was here the other day," said Roach to BoxingScene.com on Thursday morning from the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.
"I took him downstairs, I gave him the tour a little bit, he pointed at a picture of Pacquiao and said, 'We want him' and I said, 'I would love for you to have him.'"
Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KO's), who is rumored to be facing former champion Mike Alvarado in mid-April, has not fought since losing the WBO welterweight belt to Jeff Horn on July 1st at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
Matthysse believes that he's a new and improved fighter after hooking up with veteran trainer Joel Diaz in 2017. The contest with Kiram was their second fight together, as Matthysse aims to position himself or some major fights.
When asked how a fight between the 39-year old Filipino legend and the 35-year old 'Machine' would go, Roach stated - "I think it's a great fight, two guys who are a little bit older and not as big of punchers as they once were but it's a very good action-packed fight."
2023-10-20 09:48:28
