Arum: Top Rank ‘locked and loaded’ for KL fight

Over at the Top Rank headquarters in Las Vegas, the July 15 show starring Manny Pacquiao in Malaysia is “locked and loaded.”

A day after Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) publicized Pacquiao’s crack at the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown of Lucas Matthysse of Argentina, Arum told the Bulletin on Wednesday that his company is also on board.

With Pacquiao’s MP Promotions at the forefront and Arum and De La Hoya’s providing the experience and the technical know-how, everything now hinges on the Malaysian financiers of the event to deliver.

“Over on this side of the ocean, everything is on board,” said Arum, who is keeping his fingers crossed that the Malaysians will live up to their promise of showing the major players the money needed to stage the first landmark bout there in over 40 years. “I really hope this fight happens,” said the 86-year-old Arum from Sin City who is sending Brad Jacobs, Top Rank’s chief operating officer, to Manila to represent him during the kickoff press conference on April 18 and in Kuala Lumpur as well for the Malaysian stop of the whirlwind promotional tour two days later. Matthysse, 35, was Pacquiao’s personal choice as opponent in his first fight since dropping a controversial verdict to Jeff Horn last July in Brisbane, Australia. Last January, Matthysse crowned himself as the WBA 147-lb king when he flattened Tewa Kiram of Thailand in Los Angeles.