Your fight-size boxing update:
- A number of trainers, contenders, champions and even legends were interviewed about the upcoming Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman fight with more than 40 people being asked for their predictions. Below is the breakdown of who picked the winner for the July 20 bout for the WBA welterweight title. Fightful will have live coverage of the entire event:
- Pacquiao win: Thomas Hearns, Roy Jones Jr., Gerry Conney, Shane Mosley, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, Roberto Duran, Josesito Lopez, Gary Russell Jr., Omar Figueroa, Robert Guerrero, Joel Diaz, Erislandy Lara, David Benavidez, Ruben Guerrero, Luis Ortiz, Erickson Lubin, Kevin Cunningham, Jamal James, Caleb Truax, Stephen Fulton, Mario Barrios
- Thurman win: Deontay Wilder, Errol Spence Jr., Sugar Ray Leonard, Julian Williams, Derrick James, Leo Santa Cruz, Robert Garcia, Paulie Malignaggi, Jarrett Hurd, Ronnie Shields, Sergio Mora, Andre Berto, Jay Deas, Abner Mares, Gary Russell Sr., Marcus Browne, Austin Trout, Calvin Ford, Andre Rozier
- Draw: Tony Harrison, Stephen Edwards, Sergey Lipinets
- Speaking of Pacquiao-Thurman, FITE announced that it has secured the digital rights to the July 20 pay-per-view event in this press release which can be seen below:
NEW YORK (July 11, 2019)?FITE, the leading global digital combat sports platform, announced today that it will be offering the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) hottest summer boxing match-up.
On Saturday, July 20th, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the WBA Welterweight Championship title will be on the line when eight-division world champion Senator Manny ?PacMan? Pacquiao takes on undefeated champion Keith ?One Time? Thurman in the PBC on FOX Sports Pay-Per-View main event.
The live Pay Per View event will start at 9:00 PM ET. FITE is pleased to provide the event to viewers in the U.S. and Canada, and together with ITV to viewers in the UK and Ireland.
?FITE is built around bringing our users the most exciting events, and this PBC event is another perfect example,? said Kosta Jordanov, CEO of FITE. ?This PBC event enables us to provide the premium digital destination for fans of all combat sports.?
PBC?s fight roster features the most talented athletes and most watched matches in the sport, aiming to bring boxing back to its roots to reach a new generation of fans. Leading up to the Pay Per View event, FITE will be offering exclusive pre-fight content including PBC Fight Camp, a four-part series that takes fans behind the scenes with Pacquiao and Thurman as they prepare for the July 20th title fight. This in-depth series, along with the Event Press Conference and Official Weigh-in will be available on the FITE platform.
FITE has expanded the territories for viewership, which can be seen below:
Austria
Czech Republic
East Timor
Germany
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Italy
Kazakhstan
Macau
Mongolia
Myanmar
Romania
Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania))
Slovakia
South Korea
Switzerland
Taiwan
- The ESPN+ undercard for the August 17 Top Rank show at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles will feature Arnold Barboza Jr., Chris van Heerden, Janibek Alimkhanuly and Adam Lopez in action competing in separate bouts.
- Cruiserweight contender and former title challenger Dmitry Kudryashov will make his MMA debut for Russian promotion Fight Nights Global in October, per the promotion?s Facebook page. Kudryashov unsuccessfully challenged for a WBA title in the first World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament in 2017, getting stopped by Yuniel Dorticos in the second round of their fight.
- The European Boxing Union (EBU) announced that it has set a purse bid date of August 7 for a potential European title clash between titleholder Agit Kabayel and mandatory challenger Joe Joyce.
- Dmitry Salita, who promotes Nikolai Potapov, has filed a protest with the New Jersey?s State Athletic Control Board about the scoring of Potapov's fight against Joshua Greer Jr. on July 13. Greer defeated Potapov by majority decision to win a bantamweight title eliminator for the No. 2 spot in the IBF rankings.
- French junior middleweight prospect Souleymane Cissokho, who is managed by former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, improved his pro record to 10-0 with a fifth-round knockout victory over Jose Carlos Paz on July 13 in France.