Pacquiao to face Ugas after Spence pulls out of fight

Manny Pacquiao will now take on Yordenis Ugas of Cuba on Aug. 22 (Philippine Time) after his original opponent, American Errol Spence, begged off.

Early Wednesday, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), which is promoting the fight, announced that Spence will undergo surgery in his left eye following the discovery of a retinal tear during his pre-fight medical examination in Las Vegas.

“I’m very disappointed that I won’t be able to fight Manny Pacquiao on August 21 (Aug. 22, Philippine Time),” Spence rued in a statement also released by PBC. “I was excited about the fight and the event. Unfortunately, the doctors found a tear in my left eye and said I needed to get surgery on it ASAP and that there was no way I could fight with my eye in that condition.”

Spence was supposed to defend both his World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation welterweight titles against Pacquiao, who said later Wednesday that he “will pray for a full and complete recovery of Errol Spence.”

Stepping in for Spence is Ugas, the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) super champ.

Like Pacquiao, Ugas had his own bout scheduled on Aug. 22 called off, prompting PBC to have both pugs slug it out instead.

Ugas was supposed to face Fabian Maidana for the WBA belt in an undercard to the Pacquiao-Spence fight, but Maidana also had an eye injury, particularly a cut below his left eye.

The new main event of the Aug. 22 card has some pre-bout drama involved regarding how Ugas got his title.

Last January, the WBA stripped Pacquiao of the super title due to inactivity amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and gave it to Ugas, the regular champ then, as part of the organization’s unique title hierarchy system.

Pacquiao appealed the decision but to no avail, but with the new headliner set, he gets a chance to reclaim what he lost due to technicality.

Ugas, on the other hand, has expressed openness to fighting Pacquiao for the WBA belt after he was promoted to the super champ status, and his wish has finally been granted.

Meanwhile, he hopes that Spence would bounce back in a mighty way from his eye surgery just like he came back from a life-threatening car accident to become a unified champ.

“Just two years ago I and many of us were here praying for your life, and you came back from the dead to remain a champion. I’m sure you’re going to come back from this injury too,” said Ugas, who also said that he wants to fight Spence in the future before he retires.* (Ivan Stewart Saldajeno, PNA)