Pacquiao vs. Matthysse: first battle predictions and more | Bleacher's report

One year after a shocking defeat, boxing legend Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring as a challenger when he faces Lucas Matthysse in a welterweight bout in July. 15 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

When fans saw Pacquiao for the last time between the ropes, he was at the wrong end of one of the most controversial decisions of recent years. Having spent 12 rounds coming out and the future Australian boxer Jeff Horn (in his hometown of Brisbane), the Filipino was seen to impose a unanimous decision by the judges

. No matter how unfair he seemed a lot – was reviewed and confirmed by the WBO, who saw him lose his WBO World Welterweight title, he had won two earlier bouts against Timothy Bradley Jr. and left his boxing future in doubt.

But it seems that the 39-year-old has not yet finished the sport, and he will be looking to add another world title to his resume when he faces Matthysse, who holds the world welterweight bracelet World Boxing Association.

While PacMan tends to order a pay-per-view event, it might be easier for fans to check it out this time. According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, the fight will take place live on ESPN +, the sports giant's subscription streaming service.

It was intended to be pay-per-view, but Rafael reports that MP Promotions, Pacquiao's promoter, missed several deadlines to make it a pay-per-view.

Here's what you need to know to catch the fight.

Combat News

Date: Sunday, July 15

Time: Undercard at 9:00 pm ET (Saturday), main event no earlier than 11 pm ET

Situation: Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Online Broadcast: ESPN +

Early Combat Predictions

Matthysse is going to be a difficult obstacle for Pacquiao in the quest to win another world title. The 35-year-old Argentine is a fearless boxer with a lot of power, as evidenced by his knockout rate of 82 percent.

While he was lost to most of his leading opponents – Viktor Postol, Zab Judah, Danny Garcia – inflicted defeats on him – he took some good opponents and won.

He beat Ajose Olusegun to win his first world title in the super light ranks. Matthysse also won playoffs against Lamont Peterson, Roberto Ortiz and John Molina Jr.

He never really cracked the top echelon, but he is a good goalkeeper and should provide a test for Aging Pacquiao.

Matthysse will look to intimidate Pacquiao and will probably be looking for knockout in the middle of the rounds.

The Argentine, coming out of a knockout victory over the Thai Tewa Kiram, does not doubt Pacquiao's ability and status, but he generally likes to aggressively fight and get his opponents to wither under a constant barrage of power punches.

He could try to get Pacquiao out for a round or two more than other opponents, but he will be reluctant to give the veteran a chance to win this one on the cards.

"He has so much power in his shots that he hits you with a left, he hits you with a right, it hurts you," said his coach, Joel Diaz, by ABS-CBN. com.

"That 's why I'm so confident that sooner or later Manny Pacquiao will have to trade with Lucas, and he' s catching it with one or the other hand. it will hurt. "

In his youth, Pacquiao was a torrent of fists and fury, and he was just as much a threat to end a fight as soon as the beginning that he had to dazzle the judges and win the scorecard.

But nine years have passed since Pacquiao won a stoppage fight, when he eliminated Miguel Cotto in 2009. Since then he has been 9-4 as a fighter with one of these way KO losses, when Juan Manuel Marquez flattened him in 2012.

With his diminishing powers for years, he is more likely to rely on years of his life. experience and his great technique he feels that he can not compete with Matthysse. Power.

This does not mean that the incumbent should not be wary of Pacquiao's power. Matthysse suffered a knockout knockout of his career at Postol in 2015. No one would confuse the awkwardly effective Postol for a knockout artist, and yet it was a straight right to the temple in the 10th round of their contest that took place. Proved to be too much for Matthysse.

Pacquiao seemed to be on the verge of a late stop in his fight against Horn, but the Australian unbelievably found another wind and stayed in the game. The Filipino still knows how to chain a good dam, but it's been a while since he sealed the case.

The fact that Pacquiao failed to dominate Horn, who was tainted in June in a defeat against Terence Crawford, augurs no good for his chances against the dangerous Matthysse.

This fight will be a close one, but wait until Matthysse stops a mini-shocker and stops Pacquiao in the final rounds.