Manny Pacquiao vs Keith Thurman not set as Pacquiao attends to political duties

A few weeks ago, it was reported that a July 20 pay-per-view fight between Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman was in the works. But as of today, that fight still hasn’t been made official, and Pacquiao adviser Sean Gibbons tells ESPN that it’ll be a few more days at least before Manny turns his attention to his boxing career.

“The Senator is still working out his political duties here (in the Philippines) before making a final decision but is looking to returning to the ring in July. After the May 13 elections the Senator will get in serious conversations to move to close a fight. Until he gets done with elections he is not committed to anything.”

Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KO) last fought on Jan. 19, headlining a Showtime PPV against Adrien Broner and winning a comfortable 12-round decision. The 40-year-old Pacquiao has looked good in two straight fights, beating Lucas Matthysse in 2018 to win the WBA’s secondary “world” welterweight title.

Thurman (29-0, 22 KO) returned from nearly two years of inactivity on Jan. 26, beating Josesito Lopez and retaining his WBA “super world” welterweight belt. He looked a little rusty, understandably.

A Pacquiao-Thurman matchup is a good one on paper, and while we all wish it weren’t going to be on pay-per-view, Manny showed he can still sell in January, doing a reported 400,000 buys for the fight with Broner, making for the biggest pay-per-view in boxing since Canelo-Golovkin II last September.

This is still the fight I expect we’re going to get in July. It was rumored even before April, and the two went on back-to-back weekends in January to keep them lined up for a possible summer meeting.