You would think that the boxing media intelligentsia, which loves to repeat the fistic truism “styles makes fights” in an effort to sound informed, might actually understand the term’s meaning by now. But, clearly not.
No version of Lucas Matthysse would beat any version of Manny Pacquiao because, stylistically, this pairing is a clear mismatch.
As we saw Saturday night from Kuala Lumpur, Pacquiao’s uniquely awkward southpaw style, full of off-putting angles and a darting, in-and-out offense, was simply too much for a tough, but limited and ultra-orthodox fighter like Matthysse.
The Argentine slugger could never get his legs set, never get any forward momentum going and, therefore, never put together any sort of offensive surge. And a veteran Pacquiao, seeing an utterly toothless tiger before him, simply devoured his prey.
After three knockdowns over the course of seven one-sided rounds, the fight was over and the end result was not the least bit shocking for any truly knowledgeable fight fan.
Matthysse, with his penchant for quiet resignation and subtle implosion when confronted with a complex style in an opponent, was the perfect fall guy for Pacquiao. Throw in the fact that “The Machine” was walking around with a version of the WBA world title while sporting the reputation of being a bad-ass KO artist and the opponent selection was all the more perfect. Although (former) Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum was not involved in making this fight, this was straight from the Arum school of matchmaking—pick an opponent with a “name,” a tough guy reputation, and a highlight reel full of knockouts who is on the downside of his career and inherently vulnerable to your fighter’s strengths.
Pacquiao’s age was not going to matter one bit in this bout, no matter how many sour-shoed scribes grabbed at that “he needs to retire” narrative for an easy story idea. Even at 39 years of age, Manny is a legitimate top 10 welterweight and, quite possibly, a top 5 welterweight, despite “experts” pointing to his loss last year to Jeff Horn as proof positive that the Filipino icon did not belong in the ring anymore.
Pacquiao had been bloodied and manhandled by Jeff Horn last summer, not because he had suddenly become a shot fighter in the eight months since he had shut-out a pretty good welter in Jessie Vargas. He had not aged to the point of decay in the fifteen months since he had dominated Timothy Bradley.
Pacquiao had lost to a much lesser fighter in Horn (although many, myself included, had Pacquiao winning) mostly because he had been broadsided with a style and a physicality that was tough to deal with.
Styles make fights, right?
Yeah, age is an issue with Pacquiao. Any 39-year-old fighter is living on borrowed time. But boxing is unlike any other sport in that an independent fighter with full career self-determination and significant degree of star power can pretty much choose his own opposition. Pacquiao, if matched wisely, could easily fight well into his 40’s without tasting defeat ever again—and the Asian market would be more than happy to host these soft-touch half-exhibitions.
Pacquiao’s been everywhere and done everything, so why not let him cash in for a while? He’s earned a few empty paydays. But let’s not pretend that this is anything more than a cash grab against well-chosen opposition.
Quick (S)hits:
-- Regis Prograis turned in another stellar performance on Saturday, ratcheting up talk of his star potential with a hometown New Orleans gala and then taking the heart and soul from Juan Jose Velasco over the course of eight one-sided rounds. It still remains to be seen whether Prograis is the best junior welterweight in the world at the moment, but there’s no doubt that he has massive potential and is already one of the most entertaining fighters in the business.
-- If the reported lineup of the upcoming World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) junior welter tourney holds up, Prograis will now be shooting straight to the deep end of the division’s talent pool. With Josh Taylor, Kiryl Relikh, Anthony Yigit, Ivan Baranchyk, Ryan Martin, Eduard Troyanovsky, Maurice Hooker, and Prograis in the tournament, things should be real interesting. If Prograis can get through this group, stardom is a done deal for him.
-- Getting back to Manny Pacquiao…who’s next for the first ballot Hall of Famer? The cynic in me says that shot-to-shit Mike Alvarado is packed up and shipped UPS to the location of Manny’s next fight. Maybe some other made-to-order fringe contender is pegged to be the fall guy. Whatever the case, those waiting on Pacquiao to ever get in the ring with Terence Crawford will keep waiting and pure impossibility (with a side order of common sense from Team Pacquiao) blocks a fight with any of the top PBC guys (Spence, Thurman, Garcia, Porter). Manny vs. Vasyl Lomachenko, which, up until now, has been little more than a means to generate cheap publicity, is the only “big” fight Pacquiao may take at this point, but it remains to be seen whether Lomachenko would be willing to move up yet another weight class (or two) to make the fight.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com