By Ryan Burton
On July 14th in Malaysia, future Hall of Fame inductee Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2) turned back the clock with his seventh round knockout of Lucas Matthysee (39-5). The victory was Manny's first by stoppage in nearly 9 years, and sent Matthysse into retirement a few weeks later.
Pacquiao entered the ring for the first time in 16 years without veteran trainer Freddie Roach in the corner. Instead, Pacquiao elevated his longtime friend and assistant coach Buboy Fernandez to serve as his lead trainer.
"I thought he looked good in his last performance. I am glad to see the movement he put together. He fought well," Roach stated when asked to assess his performance.
As for who he would like to see Pacquiao fight next, Roach reminded us that he no longer has any input on who the Filipino superstar fights.
Roach did however reveal that he thinks a fight versus WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko would be interesting. The fight has been mentioned as being possible in early 2019 at a catchweight between 135-140 pounds.
"Lomachenko, I like that fight. Lomachenko has good footwork but Manny has better footwork," Roach opined.
After the fight, Pacquiao said that he felt reinvigorated and that he believed he had 2 or 3 fights left in him. Roach agrees that he still has more to give to the sport but said that he needs to choose his opponents wisely.
"Some of the young studs are coming up and Manny is getting a little bit older so they have to be careful who they pick. He is very capable of fighting well like he did in that fight [against Matthysse]. His footwork was great and it was like the old Manny Pacquiao," Roach told BoxingScene.com.
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