TALAGA HA!
NANINIWALA ang matagal nang assistant trainer ni Hall of Famer Freddie Roach na Pilipino ring si Marvin Somodio na akma ang estilo ni eight-division Manny Pacquiao sa hahamuning si WBA welterweight titlist Lucas Matthysse sa Linggo sa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sinanay niya ang mga nakalaban ni Matthysse na si Russian Ruslan Provodnikov at Ukrainian Viktor Postol. Nanalo si Mtthysse via majority decision kay Provodnikov pero napatulog ito sa 10th round ni Postol kaya natamo ang WBC super lightweight title.
“In that fight, Matthysse knew that Postol’s footwork was better than his so he could not box him,” sabi ni Somodio kay boxing witer Carlo Pamintuan ng ESPN5. “But when he tried to go inside, we met him with jabs to the face because Postol’s reach was also longer. Matthysse got so frustrated that night that he quit in the tenth round. If you watch that fight again, the punch that sent him down was not the strongest of punches and he was on his knee for the entire 10-count.”
Gusto ni Somodio na makaharap ni Matthysse si Pacquiao dahil malaki ang pag- asa ng Pinoy boxer na manalo sa Argentinian.
“Right after Matthysse defeated ( Tewa) Kiram for the WBA title, I was already hoping Manny will get a title shot. Styles make fights and Matthysse’s style works well with Manny’s,” diin ni Somodio. “Matthysse will have a problem because he can’t box Manny. He’s not as quick and his footwork is not as good as Manny. But if he attacks, he’ll meet Manny’s power punches so it will be a tough fight for him.”
Pero pinaalalahanan ni Somodio ang kababayan dahil hindi ang biro ang lakas sumuntok ni Matthysse.
“He’s a dangerous opponent because of his power. His left and right are equally powerful and he’s not under Joel Diaz who an outstanding trainer and who also has experience in training against Manny because he was in the corner of Timothy Bradley in their first two fights,” ani Somodio.
“While it’s true that Manny has lost some speed and power, the same could also be said about Matthysse,” dagdag ni Somodio. “The key for Manny is how long he can maintain his work rate. If his conditioning is good, then I think he’ll be able to score a stoppage in the latter rounds.”