Is Pacquiao v Matthysse Fight Going To Be Postponed? We Ask ARUM

Thirty nine year old boxer/juggler Manny Pacquiao is counting down to one of the last fights of a professional career which began in 1995. This outing is supposed to take place July 15 (July 14 in America), in Malaysia, against Lucas Matthysse.

This is late-stage Pacman doing his thing, and as with most, I dare say, high grade boxers in the last phase of their career, changes have been getting made late in this game.

It looks like Manny won't have his main man Coach Roach in his corner for the Matthysse fight, and he is promoting the fight with his Manny Pacquiao Promotions team, rather than the Top Rank crew which was with him in lock-step as he became a global superstar.

Now, he's a superstar in the sunset phase, in the pugilism realm, while his political ascent is ongoing. Now Senator, maybe President of the Philippines in the near-ish future…

But regarding the present. Word is that July 15 tango might be in jeopardy. A story ran on Boxing Scene which alluded to tumult, and the possibility of the tussle, in which Matthysse's welterweight crown would be up for grabs, being postponed.

What of it, I asked Bob Arum, the all-star dealmaker who is handling the TV in the states side of this promotion.

“Who knows? Could be accurate,” Arum said on Friday night. “There was a change of government in Malaysia.”

The implication there is that changes to the system could be impacting the promotion.

“The issues are said to be related to some disagreements between the involved promoters and the event organizers in the country. While the problems are not exactly clear, they are alleged to be connected to certain financial aspects of the deal – with respect to the organizers in Malaysia,” the story read.

No insights into the who's and exactly why's…

Matthysse is promoted by Golden Boy. Does their executive Eric Gomez know of any change to the status of the promotion? Could it be postponed? “No, not that I know,” Gomez told me.

But this will be something to keep an eye on. We in the States generally have it pretty good, with our boxing big leagues being fairly free of shenanigans, of tomfoolery, of financial funny business or instability resulting from unstable players on faulty footing trying to over-step their bounds, and tripping up. The same can't be said the world over…

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