In anticipation for Manny Pacquiao’s July 15th fight against Lucas Matthysse, set to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Fight Hub TV captured some footage of their first official face off which took place yesterday. The two fighters met up in The Philippines as part of their opening press conference, formally announcing their fight.
Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) is most recently coming off a disputed decision loss to Jeff Horn last July where he lost his WBO welterweight title. Pacquiao has also been in the news quite a bit lately based on a fight Top Rank set up for him against Mike Alvarado — which Pacquiao ultimately turned down — and due to a potential split with longtime trainer and friend Freddie Roach.
Meanwhile Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) is coming off two consecutive stoppage wins since getting stopped himself by Viktor Postol back in late 2015. An eye injury Matthysse suffered in that fight nearly ended his career, but he decided after some time away that he was fit to return to action.