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‘I’ve faced so many strong opponents to get to where I am,’ says last-minute replacement Yordenis Ugas as he battles the favored Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao feels he got robbed of his belt. Now he wants to reclaim it from Yordenis Ugas.
“Ugas is a champion because they gave him my belt. Now, we have to settle it inside of the ring,” Pacquiao said during a zoom presser on Wednesday, August 11 (Thursday, August 12, Philippine time).
“In the end, I want to win the belts. I’m so excited for this championship fight and I don’t care if I’m the challenger or champion coming into it. We’ll see who is the champion,” added Pacquiao, who got Ugas as replacement opponent after Errol Spence was forced to withdraw from their megabuck bout on Monday due to a retinal tear.
Pacquiao formerly held the World Boxing Association super welterweight crown while Ugas was the regular champion.
In a strange twist, the WBA stripped Pacquiao of the title he took from the then-unbeaten Keith Thurman in 2019 due to inactivity and rewarded it to Ugas in January.
Though he was relegated to champion in recess, Pacquiao remained the most bankable 147-pounder with all champions and challengers lining up to fight him.
Spence eventually got the chance to tangle with the eight-division world champion on August 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
