Manny Pacquiao’s new trainer Buboy Fernandez believes that the Filipino southpaw’s right hand is the punch that is going to carry the fight against WBA “regular” welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse when the two meet on July 15 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“I think it’s his right hand,” Fernandez told the Manila Times in Filipino. “We’re carefully studying how it can be used efficiently against Matthysse.”
Fernandez, a lifelong friend of the 39-year-old former eight-division world champion, took over the training reins from Freddie Roach after Pacquiao unceremoniously sacked the American in the aftermath of his unscripted loss to Australian schoolteacher Jeff Horn at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium in Australia last July.
Despite citing the right hand as the key to victory, Fernandez insists that nothing is set in stone yet and indicated the game plan for the fight may yet change.
“Nothing is final. Matthysse will be very aggressive because he is the defending champion and we cannot underestimate him. We can expect a lot of power punching from him,” said Fernandez, who worked as an assistant trainer under Roach in Pacquiao’s previous camps.
“I believe Matthysse’s camp is studying how Pacquiao is using his left hand, while we, on the other hand, is analysing how Matthysse is using his right hand,” continued Fernandez.
There has been speculation in the media that Fernandez will try to turn the clock back and have his childhood friend train like he did in his mid-20s. This has led to fears of overtraining ahead of his fight against the heavy-handed Argentine champion.
Fernandez was quick to allay these fears, saying they had shortened the training hours to prevent burnout while still building Pacquiao’s stamina.
“Eight weeks of training is sufficient and we are being careful not to burn him out,” he said. “But stamina is also very important because his opponent loves to rush on forward.”
In a separate interview Pacquiao told the media that he is still far from 50 percent ready.
