By Chris Williams: Stephen Espinoza of Showtime and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe both are in agreement that Yordenis Ugas beat Manny Pacquiao last weekend because of his “superior boxing” ability more so than any other reason.
We’ve all heard Ugas’ fine victory being minimized by the media and fans, saying that the main reasons 42-year-old Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) lost the fight to WBA ‘Super World’ welterweight champion Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) is because the Filipino star had been out of the ring for two years, had leg cramps and had gotten old.
With the excuses the media and boxing fans have given for why Pacquiao lost, they’ve left no room for bestowing credit to the talented Ugas and his superb coach Ismael Salas for the great gameplan they used to win.
Ugas did essentially what Floyd Mayweather Jr did six years ago by keeping Pacquiao’s offense bottled up by boxing him from the outside and catching him repeatedly with the right hands when he would go on the attack.
Similar to the Mayweather fight in 2015, Pacquiao became cautious & hesitant to go on the attack against the Cuban talent Ugas after continually walking into right hands to the head in the first three rounds.
Espinoza telling it like it is
Couldn’t have said it better💯 https://t.co/DqHyWh8pNg
— Leonard Ellerbe (@LEllerbe) August 22, 2021
If Pacquiao had been willing to walk through the fire, he could have gone all out and risk going out on his shield to try and win the fight.
Rather than risk getting knocked cold to defeat Ugas, Pacquiao chose to play it safe, which is why he lost the fight.
As William Shakespeare once said:
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
“I thought it was a good fight. I thought Ugas won. I know Ugas. He’s a good dude, he worked hard, and he had a tough start in his professional career,” said former two-division world champion Badou Jack to Blue Blood Sports TV.
Badou Jack is right about the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Yordenis having a tough start in his professional career. After 18 fights, Ugas went 15-3, and some in boxing believed that he wasn’t going to make the transition from amateur to pro.
Ugas had losses to these three fighters:
- Amir Imam
- Emanuel Robles
- Johnny Garcia
After Ugas began training with Ismael Salas, he turned things around and has looked like an elite fighter ever since. In the last seven years, his only loss is a controversial 12 round split decision to Shawn Porter in 2019.
Chris Williams had Ugas defeating Porter by a 118-110 score. It was a mismatch, as Porter looked terrified of Ugas from the opening bell and ran from him the entire 12 round fight.
Like in the Pacquiao fight, Ugas landed the more telling shots in EVERY round of the fight against Porter. It was way more one-sided than the Pacquiao vs. Ugas fight.
“He had a couple of losses, and he bounced back, and he looked good,” Jack said of Ugas. “Yeah, Manny is getting a little bit older. He hasn’t fought in two and a half years. He [Yordenis] had a great game plan. He looked good. That’s how you fight, and I’m happy for him.
“You just got to suck it up and stay focused,” said Jack about Ugas and Pacquiao’s original opponents for last Saturday suffering injuries. “Most of us on this level have had a lot of amateur and professional fights, so we know how to adjust.
“I would like to see him fight Spence or Crawford,” Badou said when asked who would he like to see Ugas fight next.
“I wish him a speedy recovery. I don’t know what type of injury it is. I haven’t talked to Spence, but as a fan, I hope he comes back soon and fights those guys,” Badou said in reacting to Errol’s left eye injury he sustained in training for the Pacquiao fight.