The 40-year-old defended his WBA crown when he beat Adrien Broner by unanimous decision in January but is expected to face a tougher challenge against the American, a former unified welterweight world champion.
The latter is 10 years younger than his opponent and should theoretically have the upper hand when it comes to stamina. However, Thurman has fought just once in the last 28 months, while Pacquiao has had three fights in the last two years alone.
“Boxing is about throwing punches, not who has the bigger body,” Pacquiao was quoted as saying by ESPN. “My speed and power will speak for itself. He may underestimate me now, but he’ll talk differently once he’s in the ring with me.”
Thurman, however, isn’t concerned by his lengthy lay-off and said he will be $10,000 on himself to knock Pacquiao out within two rounds.
“I can’t go three minutes going ’tap tap tap’ when I got $10k on the round,” he told TMZ. “You know what I mean? I gotta swing a few times. You gotta try to hit a home run.”
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday night.
When and where is the fight?
Pacquiao and Thurman face off at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, July 20.
The undercard begins at 9 p.m. ET with the main event scheduled to get underway approximately 90 minutes later.
Who is on the undercard?
The undercard will see Texas native Omar Figueroa Jr. take on Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas in a WBC welterweight title eliminator, followed by a welterweight bout pitting Sergey Lipinets against John Molina Jr.
The Russian is the former IBF Super Lightweight world champion, while the 24 of the Californian’s 30 wins have come by KO.
In the final undercard fight, Mexico’s Luis Nery looks to defend his WBC Silver Bantamweight title against Juan Carlos Payano from the Dominican Republic.
Nery is a former WBA bantamweight world champion, as is his opponent, who is nicknamed “Baby Pacquiao”.
TV and live stream info
The fight will be broadcast live on Fox Sports pay-per-view at a cost of $74.99, plus taxes and fees.
Viewers who purchase the fight will be able to stream it online and watch it via the Fox Sports app, which is available for download on PC, Apple, Android, Fire TV, Roku and via Smart TVs.
Previous records
The only man to have won a world title in eight different weight divisions, Pacquiao has a career record of 61-7-2, with 39 wins by KO. Thurman is yet to taste defeat in 29 professional fights and has won 22 of those by KO.
Odds
According to VegasInsider, Pacquiao is a 63/100 (-160 in moneyline terms) favorite, while Thurman is 7/5 underdog.
