Although Manny Pacquiao insists that his next fight will take place in a few months in Malaysia, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said no fight has been agreed to yet.
Speaking to Boxingscene.com, Arum said Pacquiao's comments that he will be fighting WBA "regular" welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse on June 24 in Malaysia "not true."
“They’re hoping to do a deal in Malaysia. I haven’t been handling that deal. They’ve been handling that deal themselves. Hopefully the money, in the form of a deposit, turns up. Matthysse is one of the guys that Manny is thinking about fighting," Arum said.
Arum did say that if the money was right, then he would be happy to do the fight in Malaysia. The issue for Arum is that he is unsure that money will actually be put out for the fight to be done in Malaysia, comparing this instance to when Pacquiao wanted to fight Amir Khan in the Middle East last year. Arum shot down the potential Pacquiao vs. Khan fight last year and instead put Pacquiao in a WBO welterweight title defense against Jeff Horn in Australia. Arum also said Pacquiao could fight Jose Ramirez if he wins the WBC junior welterweight title on March 17. Ramirez is also another boxer promoted by Top Rank.
Pacquiao was offered a chance to fight on the April 14 Top Rank Boxing card in Las Vegas against Mike Alvarado. That fight would have been the co-main event to Horn's WBO welterweight title defense against Terence Crawford, but Pacquiao rejected Top Rank's offer, electing to go another route for another fight and then declaring he would fight in Malaysia in June.
