Manny Pacquiao returns to the boxing ring over a year after his last fight and meets the Argentinian Lucas Matthysse. SPOX gives you all the important information about the encounter and shows you how to see the fight live.
The fight is about the WBA title in welterweight, which Lucas Matthysse still carries.
The fight between Manny Pacquiao and Lucas Matthysse takes place on the night of Saturday 14 July to Sunday 15 July. The venue is the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The encounter between Manny Pacquiao and Lucas Matthysse cannot be seen on free TV in Germany. In this country, the online streaming service DAZN is broadcasting the fight. The coverage starts on Sunday, July 15th at 3am.
The “Netflix des Sports” broadcasts numerous sports competitions live. Besides football from the European top leagues and numerous matches from the NBA, NHL and NFL, DAZN also shows numerous boxing matches. DAZN costs 9,99 Euro per month – before that you can get a free trial month.
Manny Pacquiao is a legend in boxing. The 39-year-old Philippine is the first and still the only professional boxer to win the World Championship in seven weight categories.
Pacquiao will fight Matthysse without his former coach Freddie Roach, whom he left in April after 16 years of disagreement. Pacquiao has not fought a fight since July last year when he lost to Jeff Horn after a controversial decision.
Lucas Matthysse has been a boxing professional since 2004. The 35-year-old Argentinian won his first 22 fights early at the start of his career.
Matthysse made a name for himself in welterweight last year when he defeated Emmanuel Taylor by technical knockout in round 5. His last fight was against Tewa Kiram in January, where he won the welterweight WBA title in the eighth round with a knockout.
Whether the fight between Pacquiao and Matthysse would actually take place was not clear for a long time. Pacquiao’s company MP Promotions organized the fight, but financial problems almost caused a cancellation.
As ESPN reported, MP Promotions missed several deadlines for further payments after an initial payment of $500,000 to Matthysse’s warehouse. Only at the end of June the full amount had been paid, with which it was finally clear that the fight would take place.
Manny Pacquiao: “This will be a difficult fight. I’m the underdog, but I’m used to it. It’s a great motivation for me.”
Lucas Matthyse: “To fight Manny Pacquiao is an absolute dream for me. It’s an honor, because he’s a legendary fighter.”