Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse speaks during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 20, 2018, ahead of their world welterweight boxing championship bout in July. / AFP PHOTO / Mohd RASFAN
Lucas Matthysse’s blueprint against Manny Pacquiao has Juan Manuel Marquez’s name in it.
Joel Diaz, Matthysse’s veteran trainer, hopes to mirror Marquez’s ploy that worked wonders for much of his four epic duels with the Filipino boxing icon that culminated with a brutal knockout win in 2014.
Diaz marveled at Marquez’s impeccable timing which is also what he likes to see from his prized ward on July 15.
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“Marquez was not stronger, but he had timing and a fight plan where he had to find Pacquiao’s timing. We know Pacquiao is fast and throws a lot, but if you measure the timing, if you wait for the right opportunity and then you can connect with the right punch,” Diaz said in an interview with boxingscene.com.
Diaz believes Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) has power to knockout Pacquiao, whom he feels is far from the fighter he once was.
Diaz, however, is not taking Pacquiao lightly.
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“One thing is certain, is that Pacquiao is no longer the same fighter that he was five years ago, and he no longer has the same body or reflexes, he is almost 40 years old, but we can not underestimate him,” Díaz told ESPN Deportes.
“Do I think Matthysse can knock Pacquiao out? I believe he can, because Lucas hits hard and in the gym he shows a heavy hand when he’s sparring, and with gloves that are eight ounces and without a headgear there is a good possibility of a knockout.