Though Manny Pacquiao hasn’t determined what his future holds, the eight-division world champion realises his 26-year skilled boxing profession might need ended on Saturday night time with a disheartening loss.
Yordenis Ugás is just seven years youthful than the Filipino senator, but he’s simply getting began after seizing this inconceivable alternative to knock off one of many greats.
Ugás beat Pacquiao by unanimous resolution in Las Vegas, placing on a powerful technical efficiency on 11 days’ discover and retaining his World Boxing Affiliation (WBA) welterweight title.
“He’s a great competitor, but I came in here to show I am the champion of the WBA,” Ugás mentioned. “A lot of respect for him, but I won this fight.”
Ugás (27-4) capitalised on this opportunity because the late harm alternative for Errol Spence Jr. The Cuban veteran was barely higher than Pacquiao (67-8-2) all through one of the irritating fights within the 42-year-old Filipino senator’s profession.
“I did my best tonight, but my best wasn’t good enough,” Pacquiao mentioned. “No excuses. I wanted to fight for the title in the ring, and tonight the champion is named Ugas.”
A visibly dissatisfied Pacquiao mentioned he hasn’t determined whether or not he’ll struggle once more after an unimpressive efficiency in his return from the longest layoff of his quarter-century within the sport.
He additionally wouldn’t affirm whether or not he’ll enter the Philippines’ presidential race, as is extensively anticipated. He intends to make an announcement subsequent month.
“In the future, you may not see Manny Pacquiao again to fight in the ring,” Pacquiao mentioned. “I don’t know, but I’m so happy for what I’ve accomplished.”
The 35-year-old Ugás threw roughly half as many punches as Pacquiao, however his blows had been extra exact and more practical. Pacquiao was the strong favorite earlier than the bout, however he struggled to get inside on Ugás’ efficient jab whereas Ugás landed his proper hand to rising impact within the later rounds.
Two judges scored it 116-112 for Ugás, and a 3rd had it 115-113. The Related Press additionally scored it 116-112 for Ugás.
Pacquiao additionally mentioned his legs had been cramping from the second spherical onward. He attributed the issue to a mixture of overtraining and age.
“I think it was too much hard work,” Pacquiao mentioned. “But I’m not young anymore. So I don’t know.”
The victory was the end result of an extended journey for Ugás, who defected from Cuba two years after profitable a bronze medal within the Beijing Olympics. Ugás stop boxing for 2 years halfway via the final decade, however revitalised his profession after which capitalised on this golden probability by incomes his 12th victory in his final 13 fights.
Ugás was within the highlight solely as a result of Spence was compelled to drop out final week after discovering he had a torn retina throughout a pre-fight bodily. Ugás had been booked for a bout on the undercard, however he jumped at the kind of showcase and payday that had been simply out of attain ever since he left Cuba on a small boat certain for Mexico 11 years in the past.
“I’m very excited, but most of all, I want to thank Manny Pacquiao for giving me this moment in this ring today,” Ugás mentioned via a translator. “We only had two weeks of training, but I listened to my corner and it all worked out.”
T-Cell Enviornment gave the impression to be primarily bought out regardless of the late opponent change, and the group of 17,438 was vocally behind its Filipino hero. Even after a prolonged layoff within the final levels of his profession, Pacquiao stays a surefire draw and a bankable star in a sport missing each at its highest ranges.
Ugás had a transparent recreation plan on quick discover, working exhausting within the early rounds with an efficient jab and physique photographs. Pacquiao was extra aggressive and infrequently received the group to its toes with combos, however Ugás’ rangy jab stymied him.
Ugás’ confidence grew within the center rounds, and he responded to some motion on the seventh-round bell with a defiant shimmy-shake of his shoulders in Pacquiao’s course. Pacquiao continuously threw extra punches than Ugás, however they landed about the identical quantity as Ugás confirmed off his defence and accuracy in opposition to Pacquiao’s exercise.
Pacquiao caught Ugás with a mixture within the 10th spherical and knocked him again as the group rose in pleasure, however Ugás recovered and rallied with large photographs. Ugás additionally seemed sharp within the 12th spherical, peppering Pacquiao all the best way to the ultimate bell.
Pacquiao had gained three straight bouts since July 2017, however he hadn’t fought since beating Keith Thurman in 2019 to win the WBA welterweight title.
That belt belonged to Ugás by the point Pacman returned: Whereas Pacquiao’s political profession and the pandemic saved him out of the ring in 2020, the WBA took away the belt and awarded it to Ugás, who had gained a special model of the belt within the WBA’s byzantine championship system.
The WBA’s resolution irked Pacquiao, who held varied welterweight belts for a decade after he first moved as much as 147 kilos in 2009 and stopped Miguel Cotto in arguably his single biggest efficiency.
On the undercard of Ugás’ victory at T-Cell Enviornment, Robert Guerrero returned from a 23-month ring absence with a unanimous resolution over fellow veteran Victor Ortiz, profitable 96-94 on all three playing cards.
The 38-year-old Guerrero (37-6-1) had a powerful second spherical and persevered with a excessive punch quantity to beat the 34-year-old Ortiz (32-7-3), who hadn’t fought in 42 months. Ortiz was charged with a number of counts of sexual assault in 2018, however the prices had been dismissed late final 12 months.
Filipino featherweight Mark Magsayo (23-0, 16 KOs) additionally preserved his unbeaten document with a dramatic 10th-round knockout of Julio Ceja, who was forward on all three judges’ scorecards.
