Manny’s first thought was to pray for Spence
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 12 Aug 2021
LOS ANGELES. It was early last Monday night when Sen. Manny Pacquiao found out WBC/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence wouldn’t be available for their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Aug. 21. A medical examination conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that morning revealed Spence had a detached retina in the left eye and he left for Dallas, his hometown, the next day to undergo surgery that was scheduled yesterday.
MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons broke the news to Pacquiao whose first reaction was to pray for Spence’s recovery and healing. “I was informed Monday noon but didn’t want to disrupt Senator’s training that afternoon so I waited ‘til about 6 p.m. to tell him,” said Gibbons. “Senator was looking forward to fighting Spence, to prove he’s the best welterweight, that at 42 and eight months, he can still do it. I thought Senator would ask about what will happen but instead, all he did was to pray for Spence, quote Corinthians from the Bible, leaving his fate to God because He is the Way, to have faith in God and never question Him and pray for His guidance. Senator understands boxing, he knows these things happen.”
Destiny played a role in resolving the issue of whom Pacquiao would fight in Spence’s place. Super WBA welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas of Cuba was set to stake his crown against Argentina’s Fabian Maidana in the T-Mobile Arena undercard but within hours of Spence’s withdrawal, it was announced the challenger had suffered a bad cut in sparring and wouldn’t also be available. That opened the door for Pacquiao to battle Ugas.
"I'm ready to fight, I've worked hard, I trained like when I was young, I'm thankful Ugas is there to prove who's the real WBA champion," said Pacquiao. "I believe my sacrifice and hard work in training will not be wasted and I can prove to the world who's the real champion ... it will definitely be an entertaining fight, Ugas is a fighter, a champion, he took my belt but let's see what will happen in the ring ... I pray for Spence/s fast rccovery, I hope everything will be fine with him."
“This is a crazy development,” said Gibbons. “The WBA stripped Senator’s title because of inactivity and that was unjustifiable. Ugas became the new super champion and stole the belt from Senator. Now, it’s a fight between the so-called champion against the in-recess champion, the real champion against the generic champion. Senator has a shot to take back what’s his. Props to Al Haymon and PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) for saving the show. It would’ve been devastating if Senator had no opponent but now, we’ve still got an event and the fans are the winners.”
Ugas, 35, is no slouch. He’s a 2005 AIBA world champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist. In the amateurs, Ugas beat WBO welterweight ruler Terence Crawford. In the pros, his record is 26-4, with 12 KOs. His four setbacks were on points, three via split decision. “Ugas won’t run, he’s flat-footed, he likes to engage so he’s a perfect complement to Senator’s style,” said Gibbons. “He’s not a big hitter although he’s put a lot of guys on the deck. He hasn’t been stopped so he’s durable.”
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