Ni Gilbert Espeña

KUMPIRMADO nang hahamunin ni eight-division world titlist Manny Pacquiao ng Pilipinas si WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse ng Argentina sa Hunyo 24 sa pinakamalaking sagupaan sa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Makikipagtambalan ang MP Promotions sa promoter ni Matthysse na Golden Boy Promotions ni six-division world champion Oscar dela Hoya para matuloy ang inaasam na laban ni Pacquiao.

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Naunang tinanggihan ng Pambansang Kamao ang pagiging “undercard” lamang na laban kay ex-WBO super lightweight ruler Mike Alvarado ng United States sa pagdedepensa ni WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn kay mandatory challenger Terence Crawford na isa ring Amerikano sa Abril 14 sa Las Vegas, Nevada.

“It’s already final,” sabi ni Pacquiao sa Philboxing.com. “I’m going to fight in Malaysia on June 24. It is against Matthysse. I’ll be ready for the preparation and it’s going to be 11 weeks.”

May rekord si Pacquiao na 59-7-2 na may 38 panalo sa knockouts kumpara kay Matthysse na garantisadong knockout artist sa rekord na 39 panalo, 4 na talo na may 36 pagwawagi sa knockouts.

Ngunit, pinasinungalingan ni Top Rank Inc. big boss Bob Arum na hindi totoo ang ulat na wala na siyang pakialam sa laban nina Pacquiao at Matthysse.

“That’s not true,” sabi ni Arum sa panayam ng BoxingScene.com. “They’re hoping to do a deal in Malaysia. I haven’t been handling that deal. They’ve been handling that deal themselves. Hopefully the money, in the form of a deposit, turns up. Matthysse is one of the guys that Manny is thinking about fighting.”

“The Malaysia part is up in the air. I don’t know these Malaysian people. If they put up the money, it’ll happen, happily. But do I know whether the money will be put up? No, I don’t. It’s as simple as that,” diin ni Arum. “It’s exactly like usual. The only difference is the action has now moved from the Mideast to Asia. It used to be the Mideast. How many stories were there about [investors in] Abu Dhabi, about Dubai, about Saudi Arabia? That part is up in the air. There is some substance to it. It is not something to be completely discarded as ridiculous, because it might come to fruition.”

Ngunit makikialam pa rin si Arum at ang Top Rank kung matutuloy ang laban lalo sa pay-per-view viewing ng sagupaan.

“Golden Boy [Promotions] has a contract with Matthysse, but Golden Boy has been told that it would a provision of service agreement for Matthysse [to fight Pacquiao],” dagdag ni Arum “They would just be supplying the fighter.

Manny wants to be the promoter in Malaysia. We would handle the logistics there for them and we would handle worldwide television.”