'Powerful' Matthysse will make Pacquiao suffer, says trainer

MANILA, Philippines – The trainer of Lucas Matthysse claims the WBA welterweight champion has something many of Manny Pacquiao’s previous opponents don’t have: power.

Joel Julio, who will train Matthysse for his title defense against Pacquiao on July 15 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, expressed confidence on his ward’s chances versus the Filipino icon.

“I know that in Matthysse I have a fighter with a lot of strength in both fists, that we must use a different strategy,” the trainer recently told ESPN Desportes.

Indeed, Matthysse is a heavy-handed fighter, with 36 of his 39 wins coming by way of knockout. This makes him a dangerous opponent for Pacquiao, who had been knocked out before and is getting more vulnerable each fight.

Meanwhile, Diaz is also banking on his familiarity with Pacquiao, having trained Timothy Bradley in his first two fights with the Filipino. Bradley pulled off a controversial in their first meeting in 2012 and lost lopsidedly in their rematch two years later.

Now, Diaz will have another crack at beating Pacquiao, and this time he’s confident Matthysse can do it.

“Let's base ourselves in his (Matthysse’s) strength and his power to make Pacquiao suffer," he added.

Pacquiao, for his part, earlier said he can’t wait to try and take Matthysse’s title.

Now comes Diaz’s warning to Pacquiao.

“Both (Pacquiao and Matthysse) are in the same situation, but I think Lucas is more hungry, he just won the championship and I know he will come very motivated to achieve the greatest win of his career," Diaz continued.

"Lucas has the championship and that's worth a lot for Pacquiao at the moment. It's going to cost Pacquiao a lot of work because Matthysse has power. If Pacquiao wants to come and do what he did with others, he's going to find a lot of problems,” he said.

Diaz said Matthysse, a native of Argentina, will open training camp next week in California, which is more than enough time to get the fighter primed and ready.