Who’s Next For Manny Pacquiao

If there was another movie of the illustrious Back to the Future series, then you would be forgiven for thinking that it starred Manny Pacquiao because the Pac-Man turned back to the clock last weekend to stun everyone, not just his opponent, the hard hitting Lucas Matthysse, but probably everyone in attendance and everyone watching around the world including his fellow welterweight boxers who no doubt would be feeling a little concerned that Pacquiao is back…

Or is he….? Pacquiao’s famed speed looked to be back against the Argentinian, having not fought since his loss to Jeff Horn back in July of 2017, Pacquiao has not been a regular in the squared circle for some time, so not only was there ring rust to contend with as well as a busy political life, there was also the small matter of father time, at almost 40yrs of age, Pacquiao had looked a shell of himself in his last outing against Horn. Many were of the opinion that Matthysse would be a very dangerous fight for him and a possible defeat.

After what turned out to be a one sided win for Manny Pacquiao, the rumblings began, was Pacquiao’s improved performance because he was ‘on’ something, the rumours of performance enhancing drugs have never been far from Pacquiao in recent years and who knows what the testing protocol was for drugs in this fight, was there even a protocol? Pacquiao knocked Matthysse down several times before ending the fight in the seventh, his first win by knock out since a TKO win over Miguel Cotto way back in 2009, I don’t believe this has anything to do with drugs, in reality father time did catch up with someone, but it wasn’t Pacquiao, it was his opponent Lucas Matthysse.
At 35yrs old, it is not really considered very old for a boxer in todays age with advanced nutrition and training strategies, but Matthysse was the only who looked old and slow, whereas it is true your power is the last thing which leaves you as a fighter, the man who has knocked out 36 opponents in his 39 wins looked cumbersome and several levels below Pacquiao, it wasn’t that Pacquiao looked so great and so fast, it was more that Matthysse just didn’t put out the kind of performance he was once capable of.

With Pacquiao’s victory, the welterweight division, already packed with talent has some more potential mega fights lined up, I’ll take a look at just some of the names who have been mentioned as possible opponents for Pacquiao.

Keith Thurman

This fight makes sense for Pacquiao, he is getting older and Thurman is getting more and more rusty the longer he stays out. The only question is when will Thurman make his return to the ring having suffered setbacks with his injuries. Pacquiao would be a great opponent for Thurman who will be looking to rebuild his resume and win more titles having relinquished his title due to injury. If Thurman wants a tune up or two before facing Pacquiao, then it may be too late to make the fight happen due to Pacquiao’s age.

Errol Spence Jnr

Spence is arguably the most dangerous opponent in the division right now, Pacquiao would be well advised to avoid Spence, not because of skills but because of size, Pacquiao would be faced with an opponent in the peak of his career and someone who is really a light middleweight or middleweight. At this stage of Manny’s career, Spence would be a bad match up, he would be too big and too strong for Pacquiao. It would be Pacquiao v Horn all over again, only much much worse….

Spence Jnr is a huge puncher and he favours the Everlast brand

Terence Crawford

If Spence is too big for Pacquiao, then Crawford would be a better opponent. ‘Bud’ is not long removed from the 140lb division so size wise would be a better match up for Pacquiao. But right now, Crawford’s skills would be too much for Pacquiao and I would expect the versatile Crawford to outbox an ageing Pacquiao. This would be one of those fights where an ageing great gets upstaged at the end of his career to a future great, skills wise Crawford is the best there is, Pacquiao should stay away from Crawford.

Vasyl Lomachenko

We’re getting smaller with the opponents now, there has been rumours that Pacquiao would love a fight with Lomachenko, this really would be a classic battle, almost the old vs the new, not only because Pacquiao was once the face of boxing whereas now Lomachenko is drawing close to that label and both are southpaws. This would be a fascinating fight, again at this point in Manny’s career, he would not be able to handle the speed and quickness of a much younger and lighter opponent. The question here is what weight do they fight at? Will Pacquiao be able to get back down in weight to 135lbs, Loma’s current fighting weight, something Pacquiao hasn’t done for many many years or will Loma take another risk and step up in weight to around 140lbs? If it is the latter then there is a question of whether Lomachenko will be able to handle the power of Pacquiao. Linares rocked Loma at 135 and Linares is not really a big puncher, Pacquiao can punch and at 140 he would still possess a punch that could potentially KO Loma, Power is the great equalizer.

Punch like Lomachenko with these Rival Boxing Gloves

Amir Khan

Once stable mates as boxers fighting under Freddie Roach, they have since both parted ways with the esteemed trainer. The fight though would be a huge draw and something Khan has been chasing for many years. Khan has made no secret of his desire to fight both Pacquiao and Mayweather, JR. For good reason too, Khan knows it will pocket him a huge pay day and the fans know that with Khan, you are almost guaranteed an entertaining fight. With Mayweather, JR retired, that leaves Khan chasing only Pacquiao, whose last performance over the weekend has reignited the possibility of the former sparring partners facing off in the ring. This on the face of it looks an exciting battle, would Khan’s speed be too much for Pacquiao or would his chin let him down again. For two boxers who know each other so well, anything could happen, had this fight taken place just a few years ago it would undoubtedly belong to Pacquiao, but with his age, the balance is restored. The history and background between the fighters make this an easy fight to sell.