Pacquiao vs Thurman in WBA Welterweight Unification Likely July 20 on FOX PPV

By Carlos Costa

Filipino icon eight-division world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KO’s) will most likely wage his next exciting world title battle in the U.S. against unbeaten American WBA Welterweight “Super Champion” Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-0, 22 KO’s) in a blockbuster FOX PPV event set for July 20, according to several boxing reports in U.S sports media.

The thrilling rumble would unify the WBA welterweight division as Pacman fans around the world can’t wait to see their future hall-of-famer idol back in action.

The fighting senator will land to his rumble against Thurman from a snoozer unanimous decision win over Adrien Broner (33-4-1, 24 KO’s) last January in Las Vegas, willing to thrill his tons of followers with a spectacular victory over the undefeated Thurman.

Will the great Pacquiao be able to do it, same as he did to the now-retired Lucas Matthysse (39-5, 26 KO’s) last July in Malaysia?

An awesome, spectacular win of Manny Pacquiao over Thurman might spark genuine interest in a super blockbuster rematch against “TBE” Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0, 27 KO’s), or unification battles against unbeaten P4P-listers welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr. (25-0, 21 KO’s) or Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KO’s).

Time will tell. But first, the Pacman has to deal with Thurman. And deal well. And that might not be easy. A defense mistake against a really excellent fighter as Thurman would be disastrous.

Meanwhile, Thurman, 30, comes into the most lucrative fight of his boxing career from a majority decision victory over “The Riverside Rocky” Josesito Lopez (36-8, 19 KO’s), also last January, a battle that marked Keith’s return to fighting action after undergoing surgery to his troubled right arm.

With his elbow problems gone in the back mirror, boxing fans now just expect and hope that Thurman’s fight performance against the fitted, strong and still super-fast Pacman will be a thrilling action war that might not go the distance.

Hopefully so.

So let’s wait for July 20 to find out.

The author Carlos Costa is a Panama boxing reporter living permanently in the Philippines. Carlos can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.com and whatsapp/viber/wechat: +639184538152.