Evidently someone forgot to tell Yordenis Ugas that Saturday night was supposed to be Manny Pacquiao’s triumphant return to the ring. Ugas, who took the fight on 11 days notice after Welterweight Champion Errol Spence Jr. withdrew due to a retinal tear in his left eye, won via unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 115-113) to spoil the party in Vegas.
Ugas opened the evening as a +310 underdog at several sports books but proved to be everybit the match for Pacquiao throughout the night. A bronze medallist for Cuba at the 2008 Olympics, Ugas now finds himself squarely in the mix in the welterweight division.
Pacquiao (62-8-2) is now 42 years old, coming off a loss to an opponent who had less than two weeks to prepare for the fight, and has more questions than answers when it comes to his future. Boxing wise, he looked flat footed and significantly slower than what fans were used to seeing during his prime. Outside the ring, there are rumours that he could even be preparing for a presidential bid in his home country of the Philippines.
When asked whether Saturday would be the last time fans would see him inside the ring Pacquiao responded with “I don’t know. I need to relax and make a decision.” While Manny was certainly the busier of the two fighters (throwing 815 punches to Ugas’ 405), it was the precision of Ugas that was on full display at T-Mobile Arena. Ugas landed more jabs and power shots in the bout, connecting on 37% of his punches to Pacquiao’s 16%.
While there are no definitive answers as to what will take place in the welterweight division moving forward, both fans and critics alike are speculating that Saturday was likely the last time we’d see “Pac-Man” in the ring competitively. If he chooses to come back there will be no shortage of promotions who will be happy to leverage his name to the tune of PPV success. But in a sport where you’re regularly pitted against opponents in their mid 20’s as opposed to mid 40’s, the aging Pacquiao may be best served by walking away with his health still intact.
Pacquiao has done a ton for the sport of boxing both in North America, and across the globe. Perhaps now he should focus on making a similar impact outside the ring in the Philippines. As great as his in ring success was, swapping his gloves & trunks for suits & ties may prove to be his greatest accomplishment to date.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner