Lucas Matthysse eyes bout against Manny Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Argentinian boxer Lucas Matthysse is open to the idea of stepping into the ring with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.

Matthysse (37-3, 34 knockouts), who is slated to face Ukraine’s Viktor Postol (27-0, 11 KOs) for the vacant WBC light welterweight championship on October 4 (October 3 in US), sets his sights on a 12-round encounter against the sport’s only 8-division world titleholder.

“A very big fight with Pacquiao would be my goal. I want to keep fighting the best fighters in my division and in the game,” he said in an interview with LA Times.

Matthysse is coming off a grueling showdown with Pacquiao’s stablemate Ruslan Provodnikov, whom he outpointed via majority decision last April.

Many ringside observers consider the action-packed meeting between Matthysse and Provodnikov as an early favorite to bring home the “Fight of the Year” honors.

“I feel proud that people consider [my fight against] Provodnikov [as] one of the best fights of the year,” Matthysse said of his bout versus Provodnikov.

The 32-year-old slugger known as “La Maquina” serves as one of the viable options to lock horns with the renowned Pinoy southpaw due to his crowd-pleasing style.

“Every fighter has their own style. The hit-and-don’t-get-hit fighters aren’t scared, but I think my style is more fan friendly. People come to watch excitement,” Matthysse quipped.

Aside from Matthysse, Top Rank Promotions chief Bob Arum is also considering Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Terence Crawford as candidates to dance with Pacquiao in his return to action since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. this past May.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) recently expressed his eagerness to get back to the ring as he declared that his injured shoulder is totally healed. – Rappler.com