Boxing Preview – Sunday, July 21st at 5.00 am
Whatever is going on in the on/off fight between Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan will be put on the back burner for the weekend. Khan says it’s a done deal, Pacquiao says he has no idea what Khan is talking about. A potential duel between the two may never happen if Keith Thruman has his say about things.
Keith Thurman v Manny Pacquiao Winner Odds*
Manny Pacquiao 8/11
Keith Thurman 11/10
Draw 20/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 17th, 2019 at 7:12 pm)
Can Thurman thwart Pacquiao?
The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is going to be buzzing on the weekend. This is a great looking fight. WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman puts his title on the line against the ageless Manny Pacquaio. As you can see form the bookmaker odds, this is expected to be a pretty tight scrap. There is a lot riding on this fight actually. The winner of this scrap will likely face whoever comes out on top in the Errol Spence Jr v Shawn Porter fight later this year.
Thurman’s last fight was against Joseito Lopez who really troubled the champion. There were a few times in that fight that the American got pegged, but Thurman still managed to pull out the win. That fight was back in January after a huge layoff. His previous fight before that happened in March 2017 against Danny Garcia, so ‘One Time’ could be forgiven for being a bit ring rusty. But while Thurman held on to his WBA welterweight title, there should be better to come from a fighter who has beaten Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter in his rise to the top.
Manny still going strong
40 years old, fit as a fiddle and still finding time to fight as well as perform his duties as a senator of the Philippines. And play pro Basketball in the Philippines. And do his singing career. He still is keen on taking the best in the world in the ring too. He still is pretty keen on a rematch against the retired Floyd Mayweather. Amir Khan said this week that a deal had been signed to fight Pacquaio, the Filipino’s camp denies it flat out.
Since his controversial defeat against Jeff Horn in 2017 when he lost the WBO welterweight belt, Manny has responded with two wins. The first was a bit of a non-event against Lucas Matthysee before Pacuqaio beat Adrien Broner on points in January this year at the MGM. The Pac Man had won the WBA (regular) welterweight title against Matthysse and defend it against Broner. So he still has it in him.
Predictions
Thurman has been taking trash talk a bit too far talking about crucifying Manny in the ring. This isn’t an easy fight to call. When Thurman is on his game, he is the best in the welterweight division hands down. But his lack of fighting action was clear in his January bout. Manny just keeps going and going produced some fine control against Broner. Tough call, it may go all the way so it’s Pac Man on points at 11/8* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 17th, 2019 at 7:12 pm).
