T-Mobile Arena– Yordenis Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), despite taking tonight’s fight on 11 days notice, pulled off the upset and defeated Manny Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) by unanimous decision to retain his WBA welterweight title.
Pacquiao, who was originally slated to fight Errol Spence Jr. chose to greenlight a fight against Ugas after the announcement was made Spence Jr. was no longer going to move forward with the bout. Spence Jr. could no longer fight due to a tear in the retina of his eye.
In doing so, Pacquiao had just 11 days to successfully train to fight orthodox as opposed to southpaw. He said earlier in the week during a nod to his politician and senator job in the Philippines, “I always consider myself a bipartisan boxer…I am happy to fight either right-handed or southpaw fighters. It’s no problem for me at all to switch the styles that I’m going to face.”
But evidently, there was a problem. Pacquiao had a difficult time making adjustments in the ring. More importantly, maintaining his accuracy during the fight. Ugas delivered more accurate shots, with the exception of a low blow under the belt that he was warned about. He was successfully able to defend himself out of the ropes and deliver powerful jabs, despite rumors Ugas had a bicep injury.
All three judges scored in favor of Ugas: 116-112, 115-113, and 116-112. Ugas was able to retain his WBA welterweight title.
Pacquiao stated post-fight that he is unaware if tonight’s fight will be his last night in the ring.
