By Max Schramm: Manny Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) says fans might not see him back inside the ring again after his loss to WBA ‘Super World’ welterweight champion Yordnis Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs).
Pacquiao was too flat-footed to beat Ugas, who took advantage of his lack of mobility to impose his larger size and superior power.
We didn’t see Pacquiao using angles, coming at Ugas from the side to attack the way the Filipino had fought most of his career. Instead, Pacquiao was stationary and showing a traditional straight ahead look rather than the tricky style that he had during the prime of his career.
Pacquiao admitted afterward that he had felt his legs cramping as early as round four, which made it difficult for him to move the way he wanted to for him to attack the 35-year-old Ugas.
In the dressing room before the fight, Pacquiao had spent a long period using stretching his legs. It looked like there was a problem, as he normally didn’t use that amount of time stretching his legs before his fights.
Pacquiao says he might retire
“I did might my best, but my best wasn’t good enough,” said Pacquiao in giving a post-fight speech. “No excuses. I wanted to fight for the [WBA welterweight] title in the ring, and tonight, the champion’s name is Ugas.
“I’ve done a lot for boxing, and boxing has done a lot for me. I’m thinking about my future in boxing. Congratulations to Ugas.
“In the future, you might not see Manny Pacquiao again to fight in the ring. I don’t know. For how many decades, I’m so happy what I’ve done in boxing,” said Pacquiao.
Was it age? Pacquiao hadn’t fought in 25 months, and he may have been feeling the effects of age taking over after the two years he’d been out of the ring since his last fight against Keith Thurman in July 2019.
While Pacquiao looked excellent against Thurman, we didn’t know if he would still have enough youth to beat Yordenis after two years out of the ring.
There were many question marks about how much Pacquiao had left going into Saturday’s fight with Ugas, and those questions were answered with his lackluster performance. Ugas had a lot to make Pacquiao look old, as he fought superbly throughout the entire 12 round contest.
Going into the fight, Pacquiao, 42, had complained bitterly about the WBA having stripped him of his ‘Super World’ 147-lb title, giving it to Yordenis outside of the ring.
Pacquiao said that he would “settle” it with Yordenis inside the ring. Now that they’ve met, Ugas retained his WBA welterweight title with a 12 round unanimous decision.
Pacman looked 42
Manny looked very bit of 42-years-old last Saturday night. With his 26 years in the ring in a pro career that began, we may have seen the end of Pacquiao’s career in his loss to Ugas.
It will be difficult for Pacquiao to come back from this loss, as he’s turning 43 in December, and he doesn’t have a lot of time to fit in another fight before the presidential election in the first quarter of 2022.
Pacquiao is running for the presidency of the Philippines, and he would have to fight in November or December of this year or else wait until after the election to fight in the summer of 2022. If Pacquiao wins the presidency, his career will almost surely end.
Ugas can really fight despite a bad start in the first 18 fights, going 15-3. He’s an Olympic bronze medalist with power in both hands and a calm demeanor inside the ring, which allows him to stay on an even keel when facing adversity.
I had Ugas beating Shawn Porter in 2019, and I felt it wasn’t close. That was a black eye to the sport for Porter to be given a 12 round split decision over Ugas in a fight that should have arguably been scored 117-111 all across the board for the Cuban talent.
Errol Spence has a serious eye injury, and it’s unknown if he’ll ever fight again. We have to wait and see if he will be able to come back from it in 2022.
It’s implausible that boxing fans will see Spence return in 2021, as that’s too quick of a comeback after an eye injury like the one he suffered in training. If Spence does come back, a fight with Ugas is a must.
Ugas could beat Spence
Off the back of Ugas’ performance against Pacquiao last Saturday, he’s got a real shot of beating Spence in 2022, particularly if Errol chooses not to take a tune-up bout first. Ugas is clearly one of the best in the world at 147, and it’s great that he’s finally gotten a chance to show the fans how good he is.
Ugas, 35, was an excellent replacement for Spence last night, and Pacquiao may have misjudged how good he was. If Manny had known Ugas would be this good, he might not have taken the fight after Spence pulled out with an eye injury.
We learned from the fight that Pacquiao isn’t the Manny Pacquiao that we all knew from years ago. He’s gotten older and no longer the same fighter he was during his heyday.