LAS VEGAS - Father Time may have finally caught up with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.
Yordenis Ugas won a tactical fight against the 42-year-old Filipino icon to retain his World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title on Saturday night (Sunday, Manila time) before a crowd of 17,438 that trooped to the T-Mobile Arena despite the pandemic.
"I told you I am the champion of the WBA and I proved it tonight," Ugas, a replacement fighter who only stepped in after Errol Spence was deemed unfit to fight, said after one of the biggest upsets in recent years.
"He's definitely a great competitor," added the Cuban about Pacquiao. "A lot of respect for him, but I won the fight."
Constantly scoring with his jabs and getting the better of the exchanges, Ugas controlled the pace of the 12-round bout and walked away with lopsided scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112 in the judges' scorecards.
Coming back from a two-year inactivity, Pacquiao lost for the second time in his last five fights and was obviously a little bit slower than the fighter he once was.
He was at the receiving end of Ugas' jabs and counter-punches that left him with a swollen face and a small cut just under his right eye by the end of the bout.
The eighth-time world division champion admitted not making the needed adjustment to offset Ugas' fight plan.
"I think that's the problem for me because I didn't make the adjustment right away," said the Filipino boxing senator.