It’s Official! Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Keith “One Time” Thurman is on!
The fight was announced during the Jarrett Hurd vs. Julian Williams IBF/WBA junior middleweight championship PBC on FOX telecast. It will be a FOX Pay-Per-View on July 20, 2019 and will take place at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The two welterweight champions hold different versions of the WBA title. Pacquiao owns the “Regular” version and Thurman is the “Super” champion which is considered the legit belt.
This match up was talked about for months since Pacquiao left Top Rank and Bob Arum to sign on with rival Al Haymon and Premier Boxing Champions.
Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) who is currently undefeated was very eager to land the fight with the Filipino ring legend even going as far to call him out on multiple occasions on social media.
Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) who currently holds a political position as a Senator in the Philippines is ten years older than the 30-year-old Thurman.
The battle will put an older legend against a younger lion, and it could either be a passing of the torch fight with the older Pacquiao could transfer the power to the undefeated Thurman.
This will be the first Pay-Per-View headliner for Thurman and likely to be his highest payday. Pacquiao fought former world champion Adrien Broner on January 19 Showtime PPV and the fight did over 400,000 buys.
Thurman fought Josesito Lopez on January 26 after a two-year layoff due to an elbow surgery and hand injury issue. In the fight Thurman was rocked bad by Lopez in round seven but weathered the storm and won a split-decision.
A fight between a champion like Thurman and a PPV star like Pacquiao could do well over 500,000 buys especially if promoted heavily online and on FOX.
The winner of Pacquiao-Thurman could face the winner of Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter for a 3 belt title unification in the future.
