Philippine senator and boxing hero Manny Pacquiao, left, and Argentine WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse pose for photographers during a press conference in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The two are scheduled to fight on July 15, in a World Boxing Association welterweight title fight in Malaysia. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Manny Pacquiao dismissed rumors that his title fight against Argentine champion Lucas Matthysse is in limbo.
A report on TyC Sports, a broadcast channel in Buenos Aires, Argentina claimed the bout slated on July 15 at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia could be headed toward postponement due to disagreements between promoters and a group based in Kuala Lumpur.
“That is malicious and untrue,” Pacquiao said in a press release.
The eight-division champion also described the people involved in spreading the rumors as “saboteurs.”
Pacquiao, who is making his ring return a year after yielding the WBO welterweight title to Jeff Horn in a controversial decision in Brisbane, Australia, added the tattlers’ intent to sabotage the bout backfired after they ended up promoting the fight in creating rumors that were picked up by several news websites.
“Ironically, I would like to thank these rumor-mongers for the extrapublicity that they are contributing to make this fight such a huge success. I am turning this negative news into something good because no news is actually bad news,” said Pacquiao.
Matthysse’s camp also denied the news about the possible postponement of the fight.
“Given the wrong versions of the postponement of Pacquiao-Matthysse, such as the news that we retweeted, Arano Box clarifies that the fight has no problem and the date remains unchanged,” Mario Arano, Matthysse’s manager, posted on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao has kicked his training into high gear upon the arrival of strength and conditioning coach Justine Fortune less than two months before the biggest fight in Malaysia since Muhammad Ali beat Joe Bugner in 1975.