Manny Pacquiao Gearing for Fight With Keith Thurman; Freddie Roach Says Pacman’s Speed is No Match For the Unbeaten Boxer

Manny Pacquiao is the reigning WBA (Regular) Welterweight champion and he will be back on the ring for an attempt to collect all the World Boxing Association titles this July. For this feat, Pacman is set to take on Keith Thurman, the undefeated WBA (Super) Welterweight champ.

The upcoming fight was revealed on last week when Fox Sports boxing insider, Mike Coppinger, posted the information on social media. On May 11, he tweeted, “The welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman has been finalized for July 20 in Las Vegas on FOX PPV and will be formally announced tonight on the broadcast of Jarrett Hurd-Julian Williams.”

A few hours after the journalist revealed the fight, Manny also confirmed his upcoming bout with Thurman by posting a poster and captioning it with “The summer just got a little hotter!” The match gained different reactions with some saying that the boxer who is also a senator in the Philippines will be the underdog in the fight.

While it may sound offensive, Manny Pacquiao seems to find it refreshing and in fact, he loves the title. “Beautiful. That’s what I want,” the world-famous boxer told the media. “It’s like Oscar De La Hoya. It’s going to be an added motivation.”

Pacquiao, 40, has a record of 61-7-2 with 39 knockouts while Keith Thurman, 30, boasts of 29-0 with 22 knockouts. The latter is from Clearwater, Florida and this will be his next game after defeating Joselito Lopez in January. As for Manny, he is coming off from defending his title against Adrien Broner.

Freddie Roach thinks Thurman has a chance on the July 20 fight but Manny Pacquiao's speed will be too much for him. He said that he saw Thurman’s recent fights and opined that his power has declined so he is betting on the Filipino boxer.

“Thurman is a big, strong guy but his last two fights he hasn't looked as good as he once was. But I won't underestimate him and I'll expect him to come with his best because he's fighting one of the best,” he told Sporting News. “We do have a tough fight in front of us and it's a winnable fight but Pacquiao's speed should be too much for him, All Manny has to do is pretty much let his hands go a little bit more.”

Manny Pacquaio and Keith Thurman are facing each other at the ring on July 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be on live broadcast worldwide via FOX Pay-Per-View.