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Pacquiao to return against Matthysse in Malaysia

Steve Marcus / REUTERS

Manny Pacquiao will take on secondary WBA welterweight world champion Lucas Matthysse on July 14 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya announced Monday.

It will also be the former eight-division world champion's first fight without longtime trainer Freddie Roach since 2001. Pacquiao's career-long assistant trainer and friend, Buboy Fernandez, will take over from the boxing Hall of Famer.

"There was some concerns Manny had in the last fight and some statements Freddie made to the media that Manny wasn't very pleased about," Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, told ESPN's Dan Rafael.

Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) has split his last four fights, most recently losing in shocking fashion to Jeff Horn by unanimous decision in July 2017. Meanwhile, Matthysse has won back-to-back fights following a two-year hiatus. Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) won the vacant WBA "regular" title with an eighth-round knockout of Tewa Kiram in January.

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