Manny Pacquiao may show up for his scheduled bout July 15 in Kuala Lampur, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll have someone to fight that night.
With less than three weeks to go before the Filipino icon’s return bout, Pacquiao’s MP Promotions has reportedly struggled mightily with logistics when it comes to pulling this event off. Aside from putting tickets on sale later than desired and dragging their feet on a yet-to-be-finalized American TV deal, the promotional company has yet to really secure the services of Pacquiao opponent, WBA “regular” welterweight titlist, Lucas Matthysse.
According to ESPN, MP Promotions is still $2 million short on Matthysse’s guaranteed $2.5 million purse, which was to be deposited in a secure escrow account well prior to the event. With the deadline for deposit having come and gone a month ago and with rumors of other issues plaguing the organization of the event, word is spreading that Pacquiao-Matthysse is headed for cancellation, postponement, or, possibly, a last minute replacement for the Argentine battler.
Representatives of MP Promotions, though, insist that everything is all set and the card will come off as planned. Even Pacquiao, himself, felt the need to assure fans that he will be fighting (and fighting Matthysse) on the 15th.
"As far as I am concerned, everything is fine," Pacquiao told Filipino new outlet ABS-CBN. "Lucas Matthysse and I are getting ready to give the fans their money's worth and July 15 will be huge for boxing in Malaysia."
An important thing to remember when digesting this news, however, is that everything we know about the alleged business failings of this event is coming from Pacquiao’s (former?) promoter, Bob Arum, who spilled the beans to enthusiastic bean-eater, Dan Rafael over at ESPN.
Arum’s status as Pacquiao’s current promoter is up in the air at the moment with Pacquiao claiming to be a promotional free agent and Arum insisting that Manny is still bound to a Top Rank deal. Pacquiao has allowed Arum to handle the US TV promotion for the Matthysse card, but nothing beyond that.
The aged promoter has been playing nice, publicly, these last several weeks, not taking potshots at Pacquiao’s fight, but also ever-so-slightly putting doubt into the public discourse over whether MP Promotions has the wherewithal to handle this event. Back in March, Arum was under fire from MP Promotions executives for allegedly trying to sabotage the card by threatening legal action against financial backers, insisting that he was still Pacquiao’s rightful promoter.
Arum’s also ready to pick up the pieces should Pacquiao-Matthysse fall apart, eyeing Matthysse as a possible foe for new WBO champ Terence Crawford.
"I don't know what's going to happen with the fight, but if it doesn't happen, I would hope to talk to Golden Boy about having Matthysse fight [Terence] Crawford," Arum told ESPN.
Could Arum be trying to bust up Pacquiao-Matthysse to spite a freedom-minded Pacquiao and also secure a bankable opponent for Crawford? Possibly. Arum gets very little from being the Pacquiao-to-ESPN errand boy for this upcoming Pacquiao bout, but stands to gain a lot if MP Promotions’ efforts crash and burn. Shackling Pacquiao back to the Top Rank bed post would be good for the company and securing Matthysse for Crawford would be good for Arum’s present tense purposes.
Fans will just have to wait and see how this little drama plays out.
Quick (S)hits:
-- It’s about seven years too late, but it looks like longtime rivals and feuding antagonists Victor Ortiz and Brandon Rios will face one another in the ring. Reportedly set for August 4, the welterweight clash between two of the largest personalities in the sport should produce some high-level craziness. Realistically, both fighters are well past their primes and neither is a threat to any of the 147 lb. elite, but so what? Not everything has to be about high-end, championship-level clashes of kings. There’s always room for a damn good fight between evenly-matched opponents. And given the long-standing bad blood involved here, making this fight is a no-brainer. This will easily be one of the most entertaining events of the year—from the pre-fight press conferences to the actual fight, itself.
-- Former three-division champ Shane Mosley has filed a lawsuit against his surgeon Dr. Gary Brazina for an alleged botched elbow surgery which Mosley says left him “butchered.”
According to Mosley’s claims, the fighter contracted Brazina to perform minor arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in 2017, but that the surgery was actually more serious than he was led to believe and it involved detaching some ligaments and reattaching them with screws.
Mosley also claims to have suffered a severe burn on his forearm during surgery which led to infection and the need for an extended hospital stay and a round of IV antibiotics.
The ordeal, the 47 year-old Mosley claims, effectively ended his career.
"I had a few more years left in me and had a few big fights lined up for 2017 and 2018. Hopkins fought up to 50 at the world-class level and he has always been a role model and friend," Mosley told ESPN back in August of 2017. "However, fate, if you will, stepped in and took those options away from me earlier this year.”
Mosley’s last fight was a unanimous decision loss to David Avanesyan in May of 2016. Prior to that, Mosley had gone 3-4-1 in his last eight bouts.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com