Fortune says Bayless won’t allow Horn déjà vu in Pacquiao vs Matthysse

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Veteran referee Kenny Bayless has been appointed as the referee for the showdown between Manny Pacquiao and WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse on Sunday.

This is good news for Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Justin Fortune, who is confident that Bayless won’t allow a repeat of what transpired during the Filipino icon’s fight with Jeff Horn in Australia last year.

Horn, who escaped with a controversial win, resorted to some rough tactics to keep Pacquiao off rhythm throughout the 12-round bout. These include head butts and elbow shots, which Pacquiao’s camp felt should have been kept in check by the referee.

Now, Matthysse could take a page out of Horn’s book and apply the same bullying strategy against Pacquiao when they clash at the 15,000-seat Axiata Arena here.

But Fortune is no longer concerned.

“The referee is Kenny Bayless. He's straight, no bull****. He's the real deal. He won't allow all that head-butting,” Fortune, an Australian like Horn, told Filipino scribes during the grand arrival ceremony Tuesday at the Le Meridien hotel, where Pacquiao and Matthysse are billeted.

Fortune said he expects Matthysse to try his luck in roughing up Pacquiao “because he's not fast enough to box Manny.”

That, however, doesn’t make Matthysse (39-4, with 4 KOs) a pushover.

“But he's smart. He has a good trainer who has been here before and has been with very good fighters. He's a dangerous guy,” added Fortune.

Bayless, for his part, is no stranger to being the third man in the ring in Pacquiao’s fights. He has worked the fighting senator’s bouts with Erik Morales, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton.