With less than two weeks until Manny Pacquiao takes on Lucas Matthysse, his coaches believe the 39-year-old will be in great condition.
Pacquiao challenges the WBA World Welterweight Champion in Malaysia on July 14th, live in the UK and Ireland on BoxNation.
This will be PacMan’s first outing since losing his WBO belt to Jeff Horn in Brisbane one year ago. The Filipino is no longer working with long-term trainer Freddie Roach.
Despite the switch, new coach Buboy Fernandez is confident Pacquiao will be on top of his game, and revealed that he has been aiming to add additional strength and power to his legs.
“Bottom line is, Manny is doing everything just to get in tip-top for this fight,” he told Manila Times.
“He actually fell short of cutting trees on the mountains like Rocky Marciano used to do during his time. But you never can say if one day he decides to work on that too!”
Pacquiao has won World Titles in a remarkable eight weight divisions during a storied career, and now he faces a tough challenge against the man nicknamed ‘The Machine’.
Matthysse is one of boxing’s most formidable punchers, boasting 36 knockouts in his 39 wins. In January he won the WBA World Welterweight Title after stopping Tewa Kiram.
Justin Fortune, Pacquiao’s long-term strength and conditioning coach, knows that his man will have to be at his best to win the belt.
“As I have been saying, fighting Lucas is no joke. To beat Lucas, Manny should really be on top of his game. And he’s on track. Very much on the way to attaining that,” said the Australian.
