Manny Pacquiao's next fight official for July against Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia (2018)
Former eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao has got his next fight. After months of speculation as to what his next move would be, Pacquiao has agreed to take on WBA "regular" welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, Golden Boy Promotions and Pacquiao's team announced on Monday.
Pacquiao was linked to a hopeful Top Rank on ESPN card this April with Terence Crawford against Jeff Horn -- the man who most recently defeated Pacquiao -- facing off in the main event. But talks of that bout quickly broke down with Pacquiao and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum trading some verbal jabs about what the boxer was going to do next. Crawford-Horn has also since been delayed to June because of an injury to Crawford's right hand.
Then, when discussion became more focused on Matthysse, Arum didn't believe that would come to fruition either.
Pacquiao (59-7-2) is 2-2 in his last four fights, including that shocking and somewhat controversial unanimous decision loss to Horn in July 2017. Matthysse (39-4-0), meanwhile, is 2-0 after coming back from a two-year hiatus following a knockout loss to Viktor Postol. According to the L.A. Times, the fight will be broadcast on ESPN. No other fights for this card have been announced as of yet.
Pacquiao also noted last week that his hope is to beat Matthysse and possibly face off with WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko next.
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