It is not completely surprising that Lucas Matthysse made the decision to resign with Golden Boy and extend his contract. Some people were surprised because he is represented by Al Haymon. Haymon has removed most of his stable from Golden Boy’s promotional outfit. With the exception of a few fighters that remain with the company due to contractual obligations, but the rumor is those fighters will leave once they have fulfilled their fight requirements.
So what would entice Matthysse to sign and become a rogue client within the horde of happy Haymon combatants?
Matthysse must’ve known that with Golden Boy and Top Rank w
orking together he has a better chance of landing Pacquiao if he stays with GB than he would have landing Mayweather and leaving GB.
There have been reports of a fight between Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov on March 28th, another fighter that was in the Pacquiao running before losing to Chris Algieri.
The winner of that fight is immediately placed in contention to land Pacquiao. Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, says a fight between Matthysse and Pacquiao is “possible,” but he seems more open to the idea of Matthysse and Provodnikov earning the fight by going through each other.
“We could go against Ruslan Provodnikov; he told me he wants to fight Manny. That’d be a good fight; I would like that fight, and I would accept that fight.”
At this point, it isn’t clear whether or not the long-awaited showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao is imminent, and the momentum seems to swing violently in both directions as each day passes. But regardless of who Manny faces next, he will undoubtedly be in need of an opponent for the end of the year.
If Matthysse and Provodnikov produce the kind of action-packed fight that we all expect they’re capable of then, it will go a long way in making the winner an easy choice as an eventual opponent for Pacquiao.
Let’s just hope their violent affair leaves enough of each man intact so that a Pacquiao fight or a fight of any kind, is possible for later in the year.
