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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- In the lead-up to Manny Pacquiao's bout with hard-punching Lucas Matthysse for the Argentinian's WBA regular welterweight title, the prevailing narrative centered around the Filipino's battle with another opponent: the unbeaten Father Time. Was Pacquiao washed up? Did he still have enough left in the tank? These were fair questions considering he did not look good in his controversial decision loss to Jeff Horn, was coming off a long layoff, and was without Freddie Roach for the first time in 17 years. Although most boxing experts in the media did predict a Pacquiao win, virtually all of them felt the fight would go to the scorecards. Pacquiao by decision or Matthysse by knockout was the prevailing sentiment. Again, this was a fair assessment considering Manny's last stoppage win came nine years ago against Miguel Cotto when he was at the peak of his career. By the end of their fight, a brutal seventh-round stoppage that left Matthysse spitting out his mouthpiece while crouched on one knee, Pacquiao showed us all just how much we know. Reports of his decline as a boxer turned out to be greatly exaggerated, and Pacquiao himself seemed amused when asked about it at the post-fight press conference. "I'm not gone," he replied with a knowing smile. "I'm still here. Sometimes you just need to rest and get it back, and that's what I did." Whenever a shot, over-the-hill fighter says he feels young again after implementing a new training regimen for a big fight, the common reaction of the public is to give a head shake or a smirk. That's what they all say, right? It's what Oscar De La Hoya said just weeks before Pacquiao sent him into retirement in 2008. It's also what Pacquiao and his camp repeatedly proclaimed from their training camp in Gen. Santos City, and not a few smirks were heard on social media. This much can be said: Pacquiao certainly looked young again in the ring on Sunday, and between the two of them, it was Matthysse who moved like he was about to turn 40. Pacquiao was again asked about his age vis-à-vis his performance, and again he claimed he was feeling younger, fresher, like he was still in his late twenties and all the critics were senile. "If you saw me training for this fight, you would say I looked like I was 27, 28." Then he snuck in one last jab. "Do I look 39?" he deadpanned. But let's be clear: this was not the 29-year-old Pacquiao we saw Sunday thrashing Matthysse. Far from it. That version of Pacquiao steamrolled through David Diaz and De La Hoya and gutted out a tough split decision win over his great rival Juan Manuel Marquez. But this was also certainly not the 38-year-old Pacquiao who looked, well, like he was 38 years old against Horn.  This also wasn't the version of Pacquiao who outboxed and dominated but didn't necessarily stomp on Jesse Vargas and Timothy Bradley in the mid-2010s. That was a wiser, more patient version who was no longer looking for a furious ending. The version that perhaps comes closest? The one who knocked Chris Algieri down six times in 2014, although he was unable to finish him off. It may seem like an odd comparison, considering Algieri to his credit survived the onslaught. But in Matthysse there was something not seen in a Pacquiao opponent in a long time: genuine fear. After the Argentinian got a taste of Pacquaio's power in the first round, he was never the same for the rest of the fight. The Pacquiao of old was back, and there was nothing he could do about it. Pacquiao knew it, too. "From the first round," he replied when asked at what point in the fight did he sense fear in Matthysse. "You can review the fight. When I fight an opponent, I'm looking for the way he reacts, his eyes and his actions. "Buboy (Fernandez) told me, 'You got it. But don't be careless, just be patient. And look out for a counter-punch.'" Matthysse, as a member of the press remarked, looked "broken", the result of feeling the sting of Pacquiao's fists. "I think he was scared of my punches," the Filipino icon said in what could be the understatement of the year, "and that changed his style." With Matthysse's reputation as a fearsome puncher who could end a fight with just one solid hit, the Pacquiao camp let it float in the media that they were not looking to get into a brawl. "We can't go toe-to-toe with him because he's dangerous," Fernandez told this writer earlier this week. Whether the Matthysse camp expected Pacquiao to avoid a slugfest is subject to speculation, but if you ask Pacquiao, he thinks they played right into his hands. "I think he was surprised that I was coming inside and not moving around. But that's what I want, a good fight and more action in the ring." Sounds like something the Pacquiao of old would say.
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