Pacquiao-Matthysse is good to go

After several shaky weeks where it was thought that the scheduled July 15 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Lucas Matthysse could collapse over financing, ESPN is now reporting the the fight is ready to roll.

Golden Boy president Eric Gomez, who represents Matthysse, confirms that the funds that were overdue to be placed in an escrow account for his fighter have finally arrived and that Matthysse will now fly from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in anticipation of the bout.

“The fight’s a go. There were some bumps in the road but everything is now in order and we’re excited. It’s a great opportunity for Lucas,” Gomez said. “This is his dream fight. It’s the fight he’s been talking about for five years now. Anytime you can fight a legend like Manny Pacquiao it’s a win.

The money really came in at the last minute possible after MP promotions had missed several deadlines to transfer the funds. Yesterday was ultimately the last day to pull it together as Matthysse insisted on getting to Malaysia two weeks before the fight to get accustomed to the time difference. Had the funds not been transferred in full as of yesterday, the fight would’ve been canceled.

In addition to Matthysse’s purse, the production funds for the bout have also been paid to Top Rank who will handle the U.S. television and distribution. But that money was also so overdue that the card couldn’t be put on pay-per-view, and Bob Arum is now ironing out the details about whether it will be televised on ESPN or the new ESPN+ streaming platform.