On Wednesday, August 18th, Manny Pacquiao and WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas met for their final press conference before their scheduled championship bout this Saturday night on FOX Sports PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
During the press conference Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO's) spoke of possible retirement after this fight based on how things go during the fight with the talented WBA welterweight champion Ugas (26-4, 12 KO's).
On the other hand, if Pacquiao wins Saturday night it will be hard to overlook a return to challenge Errol Spence Jr. for his WBC and IBF titles after recovering from his eye injury.
Yordenis Ugas has been on the big stage before, but this time when he faces Pacquiao it will be the biggest of the big. Ugas gained his opportunity with the win he had against Abel Ramos for the vacant WBA 147 lb title. Coming into this challenging match-up against Pacquiao, Ugas has faced only one fighter in the past two years that has been on the mega platform of world title fights and that's Shawn Porter. In that contest Ugas put on a great performance but came up short by losing by split decision.
Here's what Manny Pacquiao and Yordenis Ugas had to say:
Manny Pacquiao:
“It’s a good thing we can settle it down about the WBA belt,” said Pacquiao at the final press conference on Wednesday. “It’ll be a good thing that we can settle it down on Saturday. It’s going to be a good fight.”
“It’s not good for them [WBA] to strip my belt without fighting me, without challenging me. So let’s see if he will get the belt on Saturday,” said Pacquiao. “Both of us are a champion,” Manny said when asked if he views Ugas as the WBA champion.
“When I heard that I got the fight with Ugas, two days I easily adjust because I’d been fighting right-handed guys. It’s not hard to adjust unless you’re going the other way around and you’re fighting a right hand, and then it’s switched to southpaw.
“That’s going to be hard because you’re not used to fighting a southpaw. This time around, it’s going to be good for me because I’m used to fighting right-handed most of my career.
“Nothing to worry about. It happened in training. Sometimes it happens in training,” Pacquiao said about him knocking out one of his sparring partners.
“Because I feel young,” said Pacquiao when asked why he brought back his old style of training that he hasn’t done for many years.
“Sorry, I’m 24,” Pacquiao said in reacting to being reminded that he’s 42. “I’m just happy doing this. Boxing is my passion.
“I’m enjoying doing training camp and sacrificing, undergoing sacrifice and discipline, especially to prepare for a fight like this. I’m always happy.
“I think for the Thurman fight, my everybody training, I did 25 rounds to 28 rounds a day, but this time, I did 30 rounds, 32 rounds, sometimes 31 rounds.
“Sometimes, the coaching staff tries to stop me because I want to do more. They told me I might get overtrained. That’s what they say to me every day,”
“I want to invite all the fans to watch this fight. It might be my last fight, or there’s more.
“One at a time, that is my answer to those who ask if it’s my last fight,”
“You never know. You have to watch this fight; it’s going to be good action in the ring. You will be happy. I will do my best because I love to do that, to make the fans happy,”
Yordenis Ugas:
“I want to send well wishes to Errol Spence. I want to wish him all the best and a speedy recovery,” said Ugas. “This has been a long road for me. Obviously, it’s short notice fight. I’m thankful and very honored for this opportunity, and I’m ready.”
“Look, we’ve made adjustments, we’ve had two weeks. This is a fight that I didn’t ask for, and we went ahead and made the proper adjustments, and we’re ready to go for Saturday night,”
“There are no excuses. I’ve been in this position before, but never in a position like this against a legend like Manny Pacquiao. But I’m certainly ready for Manny Pacquiao, and I know that he’s ready,”
“I am 100% certain he cannot knock me out,” said Yordenis. “I’ve done all the work and all the preparation. Over the past six years, I’ve really been hitting my stride, and I don’t think Manny Pacquiao can knock me out,”
“Look, I’m come to prepare for 12 hard rounds. If this is the final fight that the legend Manny Pacquiao has, that he fought against a guy who brought his best and is a world-class fighter,”
“I want to thank PBC, I want to thank Manny Pacquiao, and more than anything, I represent my country,”
Pacquiao vs. Ugas
Date: Aug. 21
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Start time: 9 p.m. ET
How to watch: FOX PPV
