Errol Spence Jr. Shrug at Yordenis Ugas Victory over Manny Pacquiao: “I’m a better fighter than Pacquiao”
By: Hans Themistode
Errol Spence Jr is patiently watching the sand in an hourglass as he anxiously awaits his upcoming match against Yordenis Ugas on April 16. Unified boxer IBF and WBC have been reluctantly sidelined since when he scored a pretty wide decisive win over Danny Garcia in December 2020.
Although Spence Jr is considered a sizable favorite to strip Ugas of his WBA title, both pundits and fans believe that Ugas has more than one chance for a puncher to vent his sadness. Aside from Ugas winning 12 of the past 13 competitions, his moment to shine came only a few months ago.
On relatively short notice, Ugas replaced, ironically, Spence Jr., to take the place of Manny Pacquiao in the future First Ballot. Spence Jr could only be depressed sitting down as Ugas proved the bettors wrong by registering a unanimous decision win.
Thanks to his efforts against Pacquiao, Ugas found himself highly thought of by many in the boxing world. Regardless of his career-changing win, however, Spence Jr shrugs off those who believe a win over Pacquiao would equate to a victory for himself.
In fact, when scouring the history of boxing, Spence Jr can point to a long list of great former boxers who came out towards the end of their careers.
“With all due respect to Pacquiao, I am a different fighter than Pacquiao,” Spence Jr said at a recent press conference. “At this point, I am a better fighter than Pacquiao. You all keep bringing up Pacquiao but it’s like Larry Holmes fighting [Muhammad] Ali or Terry Norris beat Sugar Ray Leonard or [Marcos] Maidana defeated Erik Morales. Pacquiao is past his prime. ”
As Spence Jr skips, Ali, Leonard and Morales all end their careers after catastrophic failures. In 1991, Leonard suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of Norris before retiring. He would eventually return to the ring six years later at the age of 40 to Hector Camacho, losing in the fifth round.
Ali, at the age of 38, hung up his gloves after consecutive one-sided fights against Holmes and Trevor Berbick previously mentioned in 1981. And for Morales, towards the end of his career, he will continue to let lost three of his last four competitions, one of which was a match against Maidana.
More than anything, Spence Jr refused to be too involved in Ugas’ recent performance against 42-year-old Pacquiao. However, the unified roster has admitted that the split decisive defeat suffered by Ugas against Shawn Porter in 2019 was completely bogus.
But, despite the fact that Spence Jr believes Ugas’ victory over Pacquiao is a bit overblown, he still sees Ugas as an incredible fighter and someone who will give his all on the night of the fight.
“He’s a great fighter, he’ll come to fight and he’s a real fighter but I performed great and I’m hungry too.”
