HAZARDS OF THE JOB. WBA welterweight challenger Manny Pacquiao is so
anxious to get into the ring on Sunday, July 15 (July 14 in the US)
against champion Lucas Matthysse of Argentina that a little flick of
his fist went a little, too much. That punch actually hurt trainer
Buboy Fernandez during mitts sessions at the Le Meridien Hotel boxing
gym. Fernandez ended up with a chipped tooth. On Saturday, Pacquiao
and Matthysse will tip the scales at the Malaysia International Trade
and Exhibition Center.
MITEC is located at 8 Jalan Dutamas 2, Kompleks Kerajaan.
Pacquiao Expected to Easily Hurdle Today’s Weigh-in Ahead of Matthysse
KUALA LUMPUR–Manny Pacquiao is expected to easily hurdle today’s
weigh-in ahead of WBA champion Lucas Matthysse at the Malaysia
International Trade and Exhibition Center (MITEC) Saturday (July 14)
morning here.
Weigh-in starts at 8 A.M. and will be free to the public. “Fight of
Champions,” the biggest boxing event ever to be shown in Malaysia in
the last four decades, will have 10 more additional bouts in the
undercard three of which are for world titles.
Pacquiao has been one of the smallest welterweight champions in
history and has been tipping the scales three or four pounds lighter
than the 147-pound (66.68 Kg.) limit since he first fought in the
division 10 years ago.
Matthysse, the sledgehammer-fisted Argentine who has won 36 of his 39
victories by knockout (against 4 losses), will be fighting only for
the third time as a welterweight after winning the WBA crown early
this year.
For the 10th time, Kenny Bayless will be the referee starring
Pacquiao. Bayless, 68, first officiated the second meeting between the
Filipino and the legendary Erik Morales in 2006.
Derek Milham of Queensland, Australia will join 74-year-old Stanley
Christodoulou of Johannesburg, South Africa and Glenn Feldman of
Connecticut, USA in scoring the match should it last the full 12
rounds.
The “Golden Boy,” himself, Oscar Dela Hoya, will be on hand for the
weigh-in of Matthysse, a boxer promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Unbeaten Jhack Tepora of Cebu City, Philippines, (21-0, 16 KOs) will
vie for the vacant World Boxing Association featherweight title
against Edivaldo “Indio” Ortega (26-1-1, 12 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico in
the main supporting bout.
Carlos “CCC” Canizales of Venezuela (20-0-1, 16 KOs) will try to
prevent Lu Bin of China from becoming only the first boxer in history
to win a world title on his second bout. They will fight for
Canizales’ WBA light flyweight belt.
Veteran Moruti Mthalane of South Africa and Muhammad Waseem of
Pakistan will lock horns for the vacant International Boxing
Federation (IBF) flyweight title–the last of the four exciting world
championships offered by MP Promotions headed by Pacquiao, himself.
The explosive card will open with Thailand’s Ratchanon Sawangsoda
(12-2, 12 KOs) facing Juan Miguel “The Boss” Elorde, grandson of the
great Filipino “Flash” Elorde in a six-round junior featherweight
match.
Malaysia’s local hero Theena Thayalan (5-0, 2 KOs) will battle
Siddarth Ravindra Varma of India (4-1, 1 KO) in the second bout.
Right after the Pacquiao Vs Matthysse battle, five more exciting
matches spice up the star-studded event that is expected to be beamed
to 200 territories throughout the world including Japan’s Yuuki
Kobayashi (17-1, 8 KOs) battling flyweight Vincent Astrolabio of the
Philippines (10-1, 7 KOs) over 8 rounds.
Other matches include Australia’s shining lightweight George Kambosos
Jr. (14-0, 8 KOs) against Jay Ar Magboo, (17-1, 8 KOs); Eleftherios
Tzouramanis (19-3-3, 3 KOs) fighting Jayar Inson of the Philippines
(15-1, 10 KOs); Youngquiang Yang (10-0, 7 KOs) of China facing
Harmonito Dela Torre (19-1, 12 KOs); and Abdi of Indonesia (5-2, 2
KOs) facing Aiman Abu Bakar of Malaysia (7-0, 3 KOs).
(Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Center (MITEC) is located
at 8 Jalan Dutamas 2, Kompleks Kerajaan.)
