Following his seventh round TKO victory over Argentinean banger Lucas Matthysse this past weekend in Kuala Lumpur, eight-division World champion Manny Pacquiao revealed three potential foes for his next outing.
Pacquiao, who claimed the WBA ‘Regular’ World welterweight crown with his first stoppage victory since November 2009, immediately turned his attention to possible showdown’s with some of the sport’s biggest names.
When asked by Boxing Social‘s Marc Gatford about a future bout with former stablemate and friend Amir Khan, the 39-year-old responded by declaring his interest in a trio of mouth-watering clashes.
“That’s a potential opponent – Amir Khan.” said the Filipino ring legend.
“There are a lot of potential opponents – like Crawford, Lomachenko – there are so many fighters that have the potential to be my next opponent.”
“It depends on how the [welterweight] division is going.” he finished.
With Pacquiao now reportedly being elevated to the status of ‘Super’ champion due to unbeaten American Keith Thurman’s prolonged absence from the sport, as well as brining with him considerable intrigue and financial clout, he finds himself in the familiar position of being one of the most sought-after foes in a red-hot welterweight division.
A match-up with Britain’s Khan has been long-mooted for the pair, who shared numerous rounds as sparring partners during their stint under trainer Freddie Roach in California’s Wild Card Gym. A deal was reportedly close for the two men to meet in Dubai in 2017, however, the proposed bout fizzled out.
Newly-crowned WBO World welterweight kingpin Terence Crawford is another with close links to Pacquiao, with both men operating under Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotional company. A tantalising unification between the two would represent a possible ‘changing of the guard’, however, it is not clear as to whether Arum would be willing to risk the bout for either man at this stage of their careers.
Three-weight World champion Vasyl Lomachenko – who currently operates at the 135lbs lightweight limit – has long called for a showdown with ‘Pac-Man’. Despite seemingly reaching his ceiling weight-wise in his last outing against Venezuela’s Jorge Linares, Lomachenko has professed his willingness to meet Pacquiao at 140lbs for a dreamy encounter between two of the sport’s most exciting combatants.
Again, with both men sharing ties with Top Rank’s Arum – though Pacquiao’s win over Matthysse was under his own ‘Manny Pacquia Promotions’ banner – the bout would appear to be an easy one to make.
One thing is for certain, after being cast aside following his decision loss to rugged Australian Jeff Horn twelve months ago, Pacquiao’s reinvigorated performance against Matthysse has breathed fresh life into the 69-fight veteran.
The Manny Pacquiao train goes on – and on Saturday night, it showed little signs of stopping…