Its not Errol Spence Jr, former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao will make his much awaited return to the squared circle against Yordenis Ugas on 21st August, but has some words of caution for his next opponent.
WBC and IBF welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr (27-0, 21 KOs), who was set to defend his titles against Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) on 21st August, pulled out of the fight citing an eye injury.
Spence was replaced by Ugas, the current WBA “Super” welterweight champ, who was elevated from the “Regular” status after Pacquiao was made WBA’s “Champion in Recess” due to prolonged inactivity. He was last seen in action against Keith Thurman on 20th July 2019when he had clinched the WBA (Super) welterweight title.
We have to settle it inside of the ring: Pacquiao
While many would consider Ugas currently in his prime, the 42-year-old ‘PacMan’ is still a force to be reckoned with and while a number of boxing fans would agree, the Filipino himself sent out a warning to the 35-year-old Cuban, all while admitting that it will not be a walk in the park for himself.
“This is definitely not an easy fight,” Pacquiao said in an interview on Wednesday, “Ugas is a champion because they gave him my belt. Now, we have to settle it inside of the ring.”
“I cannot take him lightly because he’s the kind of fighter who will take advantage of that. I don’t care if I’m the challenger or champion coming into it. We’ll see who is the champion after August 21,” Pacquiao added.
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It was a bit of a shock: Pacquiao’s coach opens up on Spence pulling out of the fight
Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s strength & conditioning coach Justin Fortune recently revealed that his team was in shock after Spence pulled out of the fight, and while acknowledging that they are ready for Ugas, also expressed their hope of making Pacquiao vs Spence into a reality in the fuiture.
“We’re ready to go. We just have to maintain for the next week, which is easy,” said Fortune to Fighthype, “it was a bit of a shock with the pull-out [by Spence] yesterday. The poor guy has a detached retina. So I know Errol’s team is taking care of that, and we’ll get the fight at a later date, as long as he gets through everything good.”