Manny Pacquiao announces Lucas Matthysse's fight, but doubts emerge

Manny Pacquiao announced a world title fight against Argentina's Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia, but doubts quickly emerged about the self-promoted fight on Friday. Pacquiao, 39, has called himself "neglected" for the fight of 24 June against Matthysse, the welterweight champion of the World Boxing Association of Argentina. "It's going to be a tough fight, Matthysse is also a knockout artist, but I'm thrilled to be fighting and being world champion again," Pacquiao said in a statement. "I'm the underdog in this fight but I'm used to it, it's a great motivation for me to train and fight for the crown," added the Filipino player. Pacquiao said that, exceptionally, he will co-promote the fight with Golden Boy Promotions, which represents the Matthysse 35 year old. He reports an apparent break with long-time US developer Bob Arum, who reportedly warned that the Kuala Lumpur map was not an agreement reached. "Matthysse is one of the guys that Manny thinks he's fighting, there are others," said Arum at Boxingscene. com. "The part of Malaysia is in the air I do not know these Malaysian people If they put money, it will happily happen, but do I know if the money will be put in place? "No, I do not," added Arum. Representatives of Pacquiao, who won world titles in a record eight weight divisions, did not respond to Arum's comments when contacted by AFP. But ESPN also quoted Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions, as saying the talks were at a "very preliminary" stage.

– ‘Aggressive fighting style’ –

Last year, Arum correctly cast doubt over Pacquiao’s announcement that he would fight British boxer Amir Khan in the United Arab Emirates.

Ultimately, Pacquiao accepted Arum’s offer to face Australia’s Horn, a former schoolteacher, who snatched his WBO welterweight title in a stunning upset.

Pacquiao has already rejected an Arum offer to fight in Las Vegas on an undercard beneath Horn, who will be facing Terence Crawford on April 14.

Press reports said the Pacquiao camp considered the offer an “insult”.

If the fight goes ahead, it could be tough against the aggressive Matthysse, who has 39 wins — all but three of them via the short route — against four losses.

“I like his aggressive fighting style. That’s what I want, to entertain the boxing fans,” said Pacquiao, who is an elected Philippine senator.

Pacquiao trainer Restituto Fernandez also said he expects the Kuala Lumpur bout to be “a real brawl because Matthysse is an aggressive fighter”.

Southpaw Pacquiao, winner of 59 bouts against seven losses and two draws, has enjoyed a glittering, 23-year pro career, but he has not knocked out a rival since 2009.

He retired briefly in 2016 but made a comeback to retake his WBO title from Jessie Vargas just months later — before losing his belt to Horn a year later.Räägi sõbrale... #AFRICA ... spill TEA ABOUT THE TOPIC ABOVE.... Easy on Shade #jaiyeorie