Manny Pacquiao is Motivated to Get his Belt Back From Yordenis Ugas!
The boxing world had the air taken out of its balloon after unified welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr (27-0, 21ko) pulled out of the blockbuster match-up with eight-division world champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39ko). However, the Filipino Senator has shifted focus on winning back his WBA “Super” championship from Yordenis “54 Milagros” Ugas (26-4, 12ko).
Now, fans may not be warming up to the idea of Pacquiao fighting Ugas. However, they can latch onto seeing Pac Man win back a title most believe rightfully belongs to him. The Filipino Senator wants back the belt he believes should never have been taken away.
THE SITUATION WITH THE WBA
After defeating Keith “One-Time” Thurman to win the title back in 2019, Pacquiao was back on top of the mountain. He put the welterweight division on fire once again in the process. However, Pac Man was placed as “champion-in-recess” by the WBA for not having a title defense by their one and a half year deadline.
It would have a domino effect as Ugas, the “regular” belt holder, was elevated to super champion status. Immediately the boxing community was ready for the newly elevated champion to step into the ring with Spence Jr.
Well, once Team Pacquiao was ready to return to the ring in a blockbuster fight with Spence jr, the narrative quickly shifted to Ugas being downgraded in favor of a Pacquiao reinstatement while making the Spence fight more profitable as a major unification. Surprisingly, the WBA did not budge on their stance and Ugas remained the super champion. This was to the displeasure of some inside the boxing community.
GETTING BACK THE TITLE
By now, everyone knows what happened next. Then, Spence pulled out of the biggest fight in his career due to an eye injury. The shot caller for Premier Boxing Champions, Al Haymon, continued the event by bringing Ugas up from the undercard into the headliner.
This move provided the silver lining that Pacquiao fans can get behind. During an interview on The Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer, the Senator expressed that Ugas has something that does not belong to him.
“He took my belt without fighting me. So we are going to settle it now in the ring on who will get the WBA belt. This is good, it gives more encouragement for me to focus. Especially since the WBA took my belt and gave it to Ugas.”
By: Garrisson Bland
