Errol Spence withdraws from Manny Pacquiao fight

• Boxing

Although Errol Spence Jr. and Manny Pacquiao received court confirmation a few days ago that Paradigm Sports Management could not prevent their fight, something else prevented, more precisely the injury of the undefeated American boxer.

Namely, 31-year-old Spence did not pass the medical testing. The Athletic Commission in Nevada has determined that Spence has damage to the retina of the eye and will not be able to perform on August 21 against the legendary Filipino.

The cancellation of the main fight of the evening is a good reason to cancel the whole event, but the organizers reacted quickly and Manny Pacquiao will fight against a substitute opponent. Cuban Yordenis Ugas (26-4-0, 12 KOs) will jump on the "short notice".

The 35-year-old is physically ready to fight as he was supposed to fight in the title fight of the evening against Fabian Maidana. By the way, Ugas will defend the WBA (Super) belt in the welterweight category in the fight against the Filipino.

The bronze medalist from the Olympic Games in Beijing is an extremely dangerous boxer and "PacMan" is waiting for a difficult task, even though his originally planned opponent dropped out. The organizers could hardly find a better opponent than the fighter who has a reputation as a Top 10 welterweight and is currently in a series of three victories.

As for Errol Spence, unfortunately, we will have to wait some more time for his next performance. We last watched him against Danny Garcia in December 2020.

Tweets

The great Spence won then by a unanimous decision of the referees.

Manny Pacquiao posted his statement on his Twitter profile after he heard about Errol Spence's injury. "I will pray for Errol Spence's full recovery," while just three minutes later, the American also tweeted: "I was coming back from worse situations," probably alluding to a car accident he survived in October 2019.

Spence was then driving under the influence of alcohol and despite a severe car accident that sent him to intensive care, he came out of the accident without broken bones. He later said he was lucky to have survived such an accident.

Regardless of the fact that Spence will not appear in the ring, Ugas is a truly phenomenal fighter, and we can expect an excellent fight in which both will have a huge motive to win. Pacquiao may now change tactics, but he is aware that he will not have a much easier task. The match will still arouse great interest, and we have to wait impatiently for their fight