The WBA world welterweight championship Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Matthysse fight will take place at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on July 14 (July 15 in Malaysia) and will shown in the USA only on the ESPN+ online streaming service.
Argentine knockout artist Lucas Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) holds the WBA welterweight championship of the world and he will defend it against the legendary Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs).
What makes this fight interesting is the styles match, both of them are known for their exciting aggressive approach to boxing. This has the makings of an all out brawl with one of the combatants ending up on the canvas for the count.
Matthysse won the vacant WBA regular belt on January 27, 2018 in LA when he knocked out Thai contender Tewa Kiram in round 8. This will be his first title defense and he will try and bank on his timing and power to knockout the Pacman.
After losing his WBO title to Jeff Horn in what many observers felt was a hometown decision and robbery, Manny Pacquiao took a long break to recover from the brutal foul filled fight, and decided to take on Matthysse because he felt it would be a great opportunity to fight for another world title against a tough and exiting opponent.
Pacquiao-Matthysse will be the main event while overseas in the USA undefeated Regis “Rougarou” Prograis will fight Juan Jose Velasco and lightweight standout Teofimo Lopez will take on William Silva at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. This portion of the fight card will air live on ESPN at 7:00 PM ET/PT.
The key promoters involved with tonight’s ESPN+ boxing dual site event are Bob Arum of Top Rank, Lou Dibella, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, and Manny Pacquiao of MP Promotions.
The main event between Champion Lucas Matthysse and challenger Manny Pacquiao will begin around 11:30 PM ET/PT on ESPN+, and is available on the ESPN App and ESPN.com.
