Lomachenko in Pacman’s agenda

Vasyl Lomachenko, of Ukraine AP FILE PHOTO

KUALA LUMPUR—Apart from proving that he’s still an elite fighter, Manny Pacquiao has an added motivation to dethrone Argentine Lucas Matthysse in impressive fashion on July 15 in Kuala Lumpur.

If he wins, especially by a much-awaited knockout, Pacquiao can bolster his case to tangle with Ukrainian phenomenon Vasyl Lomachenko in November.

While Pacquiao is not looking past Matthysse, the World Boxing Association welterweight titlist, his adviser, Michael Koncz, is optimistic the eight-division world champion will emerge victorious in the bout dubbed Champion vs Champion and merit another megabuck fight in the United States.

“It (victory) sets up a potential big fight that Manny has been talking about and that’s against Lomachenko,” Koncz told sportswriters here Wednesday.

“The whole goal is we look very impressive, we walk away with the win, nobody gets injured, then we fight Lomachenko in the fall.”

Lomachenko also needs to beat Venezuelan Jorge Linares on May 12 to increase the probability of Pacquiao-Lomachenko ever happening.