Report: Manny Pacquiao In Advanced Talks To Face Keith Thurman This Summer
Manny Pacquiao‘s second fight as a PBC boxer could have him face off against fellow WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
Mike Coppinger reported that Pacquiao and Thurman are negotiating a deal that would have the two fighters have a pay-per-view bout this summer. The target date is July 13, but the fight has not been completed.
SOURCES: Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman are in advanced talks for a pay-per-view welterweight title showdown that’s being targeted for July 13. No deal yet but it’s expected to be completed #boxing
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) April 1, 2019
The fight would put the WBA’s two welterweight champions as Pacquiao holds the organization’s secondary title while Thurman as considered the “Super” champion. The last time two boxers held those titles and headlined a pay-per-view in the United States was in 2017 when then-secondary middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs fought “Super” champion Gennady Golovkin. Golovkin ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision.
Pacquiao signed with Premier Boxing Champions late last year and his first fight under the new deal took place in January, also a pay-per-view fight. Pacquiao defeated Adrien Broner in the main event with the card reportedly selling around 400,000 pay-per-view units. Pacquiao has held the WBA title since last summer when he knocked out Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia.
Thurman would be making his pay-per-view debut, but has been one of the top television draws in the United States in recent years. Thurman’s 2017 fight against Danny Garcia peaked at 5.1 million viewers, but was out of action for nearly two years after that bout. Thurman returned to the ring this past January, defeating Josesito Lopez in the main event of a PBC on Fox card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Prior to the fight, Thurman told Fightful in a conference call that he would love to have a chance to fight Manny Pacquiao if he came out victorious against Lopez.
