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SPORTS SHORTS 136: IT'S FINAL, MANNY PACQUIAO FIGHTS ERROL SPENCE FOR AUGUST 21 IN LAS VEGAS By Maloney L. Samaco PhilBoxing.com Sat, 22 May 2021  Finally, Manny Pacquiao will have his official next opponent in Errol Spence Jr. scheduled for August 21 in Las Vegas. Manny Pacquiao posted Saturday on Twitter with a promotional poster captioned "Pacquiao v Spence, August 21, 2021, Las Vegas, Nevada". * * * The 42-year-old Filipino boxing legend turned senator will be fighting after two years of inactivity due to pandemic following his triumph over Keith Thurman in July 20, 2019 to win the WBA (Super) welterweight title. Two judges ruled in favor of Pacquiao both scoring 115–112 and one favored Thurman with a score of 114–113. * * * The Athletic reported that Pacquiao had signed a contract for a Fox pay-per-view fight, and the venue was most likely the MGM Grand. The two of the world's best active boxers have agreed to face each other in Las Vegas, Nevada. * * * Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) is a sure future Hall of Famer, the only eight different division world champion, winning 12 major world titles. He became the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40, and the first boxer to become a recognized four-time welterweight champion after defeating Thurman. * * * Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) holds two of the four major belts in the 147-pound division, the WBC and IBF titles, and is ranked as the world's third best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec, fourth by Boxing Writers Association of America and ESPN, and fifth by The Ring and Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. * * * He is also ranked as the world's best active welterweight by BoxRec, The Ring, and TBRB, and No. 2 by ESPN. He has a knockout-to-win ratio of 77.8%. * * * After the fight and unanimous decision win against Mikey Garcia at the AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas on March 16, 2019, Spence was joined in the ring by Pacquiao and they both agreed verbally that they would love to fight each other next. * * * Sean Gibbons, president of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, told ESPN that the fight came together quickly and that Spence was the only opponent for the Filipino senator. * * * "Many people believe Spence is the best welterweight in the world and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and Pacquiao has never shied away from fighting real fights," Gibbons said. * * * "He's not going to make a fool of himself fighting YouTubers or social media guys like Floyd Mayweather is, and he wants to continue his legacy. He's always fought the best, and he doesn't want to change now." * * * Gibbons was talking about Mayweather's upcoming exhibition against YouTube sensation Logan Paul on June 6. Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in May 2, 2015 in the most financially successful boxing fight in history. * * * Spence is coming off a victory over Danny Garcia in December 5, 2020 to retain the WBC and IBF belts by unanimous decision, 116-112, 116-112, 117-111 in his only fight since his car accident in 2019 that left him hospitalized in critical condition. * * * Earlier, Pacquiao confirmed that there are ongoing negotiations for his next fight as a teaser for a Pacquiao fight against Mikey Garcia was posted. "The negotiations are ongoing," Pacquiao told Senate reporters. * * * "I will not go into details so that there will not be any problems." Pacquiao did not mention the date of the fight back then and did not divulge whether it will be his last bout or not. * * * Top Rank made several attempts to set up a fight with Terence Crawford, but the negotiations failed when the promised money for a Dubai match failed to materialize. * * * Spence held the IBF belt since breaking Kell Brook’s face in May 27, 2017 by 11th round KO. He added the WBC belt in an amazing unification September 28, 2019 split decision battle with Shawn Porter. * * * Pacquiao is facing the most challenging fight in the twilight of his career. With youth, speed, and power on his side, Spence has the advantage of four inches in height and five inches in reach on the Filipino icon. * * * But as often times said, the best Asian fighter who ever lived does not back out from any challenge. He needs a performance reminiscent of the prime Pacquiao to overcome Spence. If this could be his last hurrah, then Pacquiao, win or loss has already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest fighters in the world. * * * But his most loyal fans are always hoping for the fighting senator to retire a winner. Good luck, God bless PacMan. * * * Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry are the finalists for this year's NBA Most Valuable Player award. They are the top three vote-getters for the NBA's highest individual honor. * * * If Jokic or Embiid would win it makes the first time a center will be named the NBA's MVP since Shaquille O'Neal won it in 2000. Curry, if he gets it, would become one of nine players in NBA history to win at least three MVP awards, same level as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone with three MVPs each. * * * 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Boxing gold medalists Men Light flyweight Hasanboy Dusmatov (Uzbekistan) Flyweight Shakhobidin Zoirov (Uzbekistan) Bantamweight Robeisy Ramírez (Cuba) Lightweight Robson Conceição (Brazil) Light welterweight Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (Uzbekistan) Welterweight Daniyar Yeleussinov (Kazakhstan) Middleweight Arlen López (Cuba) Light heavyweight Julio César La Cruz (Cuba) Heavyweight Evgeny Tishchenko (Russia) Super heavyweight Tony Yoka (France) Women Flyweight Nicola Adams (Great Britain) Lightweight Estelle Mossely (France) Middleweight Claressa Shields (United States) * * * Two results were very controversial and both involved Russian boxers. It include the defeat of Kazakh Vasily Levit by Russian Evgeny Tishchenko in the men's heavyweight gold-medal fight, which drew boos from the audience. * * * The second one was the defeat of Irish boxer Michael Conlan by Russian Vladimir Nikitin in the men's bantamweight quarter-final. Conlan accused AIBA and the Russian team of cheating, even sending tweet to Russian President Vladimir Putin "Hey Vlad, How much did they charge you bro??" Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.  |
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