Photos by Wendell Alinea/MP Promotions
KUALA LUMPUR — Lucas Matthysse remains unfazed days away from the biggest fight of his life when he meets Manny Pacquiao in the ring on July 15 here.
Matthysse has never faced an opponent near the class of Pacquiao, who is boxing’s only eight-division champion, but the hard-hitting Argentine is eager to end the Filipino ring icon’s career for good.
“100 percent confident,” Matthysse, the current WBA welterweight champion, said on Tuesday at Le Meridien Hotel through an interpreter when asked how confident he is in retaining his belt.
WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse has arrived. pic.twitter.com/x4du89sL9q
— MG (@MarkGiongcoINQ) July 10, 2018
“We trained really, really hard for this fight,” he said.
The 35-year-old Matthysse is deemed as a dangerous opponent for Pacquiao, who is making his ring return a little over a year after losing his WBO title to Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia.
Matthysse hit the heavy bag on Tuesday during a closed-door training at a makeshift gym along the hotel driveway.
Pacquiao and Matthysse got the red carpet treatment upon their grand arrival at Le Meridien Tuesday morning.
The 39-year-old Pacquiao arrived in the Malaysian capital Monday night around 8 p.m. on board a chartered plane.