By Radio Rahim
Viktor Postol (28-0, 12KOs) created a tidal wave on Saturday night, when he knocked out heavily favored Lucas Matthysse in the tenth round of their junior welterweight battle at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. With the victory Postol picked up the vacant WBC 140-pound championship.
It was well known in the industry that Matthysse was a frontrunner candidate to face eight division champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38KOs) in the first quarter of 2016.
One would assume that Postol, with such a dramatic win, would now replace Matthysse in that equation.
There is only one problem - both Postol and Pacquiao are trained by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.
Roach faced a similar dilemma last year, when Ruslan Provodnikov was a frontrunner to face Pacquiao in Macau. That situation was unexpectedly resolved when Chris Algieri upset Provodnikov and snatched away the Pacquiao shot for himself.
Postol, even though he shares the same trainer as Pacquiao, says he will fight whoever his team puts on the table - including Pacquiao.
"I'm ready to fight anybody. But it's not up to me. I have a team and I have promoters. And it's up to my team and what they decide," Postol said in response to a possible Pacquiao encounter.
