This is Rummy’s Corner.
With bated breath, the entire boxing world was eager for the welterweight showdown between
Errol Spence Jr and Manny Pacquiao.
As most if not all of you watching this already know, Spence pulled out of the bout because
of a retinal tear, but the show is still on.
Yordenis Ugas is stepping in as a replacement opponent.
Ugas himself was scheduled to appear on the undercard, but his scheduled opponent Fabian
Maidana pulled out with an injury of his own.
So just over a week away, barring unforeseen disaster, boxing fans will get Pacquiao vs
Ugas.
Ironically Ugas is the WBA super champion at welterweight, so Pacquiao will be competing
for the very same belt he won against Keith Thurman - a belt he never actually lost inside
the ring.
Ugas defeated Abel Ramos by 12 round split decision last September to win the minor WBA
regular title.
And then the WBA promoted him to super duper status after they stripped Pacquiao for inactivity.
And this isn’t meant as a criticism of Pacquiao or Ugas or any other WBA title holder - they’re
just playing by the rules of today, but this entire situation is just another example of
how ridiculous the WBA and the other alphabet bodies have become.
All things considered, Ugas is a tremendous replacement opponent at this late hour.
Indeed, this actually might wind up being a far more competitive match-up than we may
have gotten between Spence and Pacquiao.
Regardless, this is an interesting fight if for no other reason, we will get to see how
much the living legend still has left in the tank at 42 years old, going on 43.
And really, that’s the story of this fight - how much does Pacquiao have left?
It’s a very similar story with Spence, except theoretically at least, Spence posed a bigger
threat.
But the main dynamic here is still the same, and perhaps even more pronounced.
The outcome in this one likely boils down to simply how much Pac-Man has left.
Of course Pacquiao was preparing to do battle against a fellow southpaw, and that dynamic
has changed.
Style-wise it’s different too.
In some ways it reminds me of the situation when Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko agreed
to meet on short notice, where Lewis was preparing to defend his championship against Kirk Johnson,
and Vitali was set to be featured on the undercard against Cedric Boswell.
Lennox and Vitali (and Boswell) deserved credit for saving the show then, and even though
the situation isn’t exactly the same, Ugas and Pacquiao deserve a lot of credit, too.
But I don’t expect the change of opponent and stance will trouble a seasoned proven
warrior like Pacquiao.
Ugas is a talented boxer.
He has a good jab, he doesn’t neglect the body, he’s pretty sound defensively, and
he has a good overall understanding of discovering and maintaining his range.
Aside from his victory against Ramos to win the WBA regular belt, his most notable bout
was his first title shot 2 and a half years ago against Shawn Porter.
Showtime Porter retained his WBC welterweight title when he defeated Ugas by 12 round split
decision.
The decision, however, was not without controversy.
Many if not most observers believed Ugas deserved the victory against Porter.
So even though Ugas is a champion heading into this one, this is undoubtedly the biggest
fight of his career.
Ugas has the skills and smarts that if he brings his A-game and fights a disciplined
fight where he is defensively responsible, he actually does have a lot of tools that
have been known to cause Pacquiao some problems.
But this all circles back to the question of how much Pacquiao has left in the tank.
Assuming Pacquiao doesn’t get old overnight, it is still very difficult to imagine him
putting forth the same type of tremendous effort that he did in his victory against
Keith Thurman more than 2 years ago.
In that sense, I had a difficult time envisioning a scenario where he would be able to defeat
an elite level operator like Errol Spence Jr.
But against Ugas?
I do believe that Pacquiao will have enough left to have a real chance here, but I don’t
think it will necessarily be easy - especially if Ugas can make it through the early rounds
without being seriously hurt.
If Ugas can avoid a firefight in the early going, and turn this into more of a technical
chess match, I think he might have a real shot here.
That being said, for me, I do believe Pacquiao will have just enough in the tank that he
will emerge victorious.
So for my official prediction, I am taking Manny Pacquiao by a clear but competitive
12 round unanimous decision.
I believe Ugas will make a far stronger account of himself here than many are expecting, but
I do think he will fall short for his efforts.
Whatever happens, I am actually looking forward to this, and may the best man win on that
night.
And here’s to hoping for a full and speedy recovery for Errol Spence Jr.
So who do you think will win between Yordenis Ugas and Manny Pacquiao?
Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
This is Rummy’s Corner.