MANILA: Manny Pacquiao is to fight Argentina’s World Boxing Association welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia on June 24, the Philippine ring legend has announced.
The 39-year-old will be co-promoting the bout after rejecting an offer to fight in Las Vegas on an undercard to his recent conqueror Jeff Horn, who will be facing Terence Crawford on April 14.
Pacquiao said he considers himself the “underdog” against the brawling Matthysse, 35, who has 39 wins — all but three of them via the short route — against four losses.
“This is going to be a tough fight. Matthysse is also a knockout artist. But I’m excited to fight and be a world champion again,” he said in a statement announcing the bout late Thursday.
“I’m the underdog in this fight but I’m used to it. It serves as a big motivation for me to train and fight hard to win the crown,” said Pacquiao, who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions.
“I like his aggressive fighting style. That’s what I want, to entertain the boxing fans,” said the elected Philippine senator, adding that the Argentine was “not a dirty fighter.”
The Filipino’s trainer Restituto Fernandez said he expects the Kuala Lumpur bout, co-staged by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, to be “a real brawl because Matthysse is an aggressive fighter.”
Pacquiao, winner of 59 bouts against seven losses and two draws, lost his World Boxing Organization welterweight title to Australia’s Horn last year.
The Filipino southpaw, who has enjoyed a glittering, 23-year pro career, retired briefly in 2016 but made a comeback to retake his WBO title from Jessie Vargas just months later.
The last of his 38 knockout wins came more than eight years ago.
‘Underdog’ Manny Pacquiao announces Lucas Matthysse fight in June
‘Underdog’ Manny Pacquiao announces Lucas Matthysse fight in June
Africa Cup of Nations moved to every four years
- The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957
RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations will in future be held every four years instead of every two years, the Confederation of African Football said on Saturday.
The surprise decision was made at the body’s executive committee meeting in the Moroccan capital and announced at a press conference by CAF President Patrice Motsepe.
The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957.
Sunday marks the start of the 35th edition, hosted in Morocco with the home team taking on Comoros.
Motsepe said the next Cup of Nations finals, scheduled for 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will go ahead and then another tournament would be held in 2028 but after that it will be hosted every four years.
Motsepe announced the launch of an African Nations League annually from 2029 to fill the gap, following the example of Europe which holds its championship every four years.
“Historically the Nations Cup was the prime resource for us but now we will get financial resources every year,” he said.
“It is an exciting new structure which will contribute to sustainable financial independence and ensure more synchronization with the FIFA calendar.”
Holding the Cup of Nations every four years had been previously proposed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino but this had been rebuffed by CAF because of their reliance on the revenues that the tournament generates.
The timing of AFCON has long courted controversy because it has usually been hosted in the middle of the European season, forcing clubs to release their African players.
This tug of loyalty was supposed to be solved by moving the Cup of Nations to mid-year from 2019 but later tournaments in Cameroon in 2022 and Ivory Coast in 2024 were again hosted at the start of the year.
This year’s tournament in Morocco was moved back six months when FIFA introduced a new-look Club World Cup, which was hosted in the US in June and July.
