MP Promotions wins Haskins-Demecillo purse bid

Manny Pacquiao’s promotional firm has the rights to the bantamweight eliminator.

Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions won a purse bid for an IBF bantamweight eliminator between England’s Lee Haskins and Kenny Demecillo of the Philippines today, with a bid of just $26,000, beating out Wes Country Boxing’s $11,100.

Haskins, the former IBF titleholder, is due 60% of that bid, so he’d get $15,600 compared to $10,400 for Demecillo — if the fighters actually accept these terms and this fight goes ahead. MP Promotions has 90 days to actually get the fight on.

Haskins (35-4, 14 KO) won the interim IBF belt in 2015, beating Ryosuke Iwasa, and was upgraded to full champion status when Randy Caballero was stripped. He made successful defenses against Ivan Morales and Stuart Hall before losing the title to Ryan Burnett in June 2017.

Burnett later vacated that belt, which is now held by Emmanuel Rodriguez, who is participating in the upcoming bantamweight World Boxing Super Series tournament.

Demecillo (14-4-2, 8 KO) is a relative unknown. The 26-year-old lost to veteran Mark Anthony Geraldo ini March 2017, but has come back with two wins since, a victory over a .500 journeyman fighter and an upset of Russia’s Vyacheslav Mirzaev on March 17 of this year.