Ahead of tonight’s world title fight in Malaysia lets take a look at the official Pacquaio vs Matthysse tale of the tape.
Pacquiao not for the first time in his career will be the smaller man in the fight – but not by much.
In fact, he’ll be the exact same height as Matthysse but will give away two inches in reach.
As well as four years in age.
It’s never stopped him before, mind you.
The old saying “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog” springs to mind when it comes to Manny Pacquiao.
At his peak Manny Pacquiao has made a career out of beating larger foes in a remarkable eight weight divisions in total.
The fight will be shown live on ESPN+ tonight in the US (the app) and the folks at ESPN have released the following official Pacquiao vs Matthysse tale of the tape:
TALE OF THE TAPE: Manny Pacquiao vs Lucas Matthysse
WHO YOU GOT?
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Watch Pacquiao and Matthysse square off for the WBA Welterweight title on July 15 at 10:00 AM on ESPN5! #PacquiaoMatthysse pic.twitter.com/t7gDBXclCX— One Sports (@OneSportsPHL) July 12, 2018
In many ways this is a do or die fight for both fighters at this advanced stage in their careers, particularly Pacquiao.
He knows that back to back defeats after losing to Jeff Horn last year would spell disaster and his fighting pride alone should see him have enough about him to get the win.
That said, Matthysse has the power to turn anyone’s lights off if he lands.
Don’t blink in this one.
