By CARLO ANOLIN
Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao vowed to showcase a vintage showing come Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada once he takes on Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugas in their super WBA welterweight title bout.
“The fans should expect to see the classic version of me. I have had the best training,” said Pacquiao as he sprinted along for his final preparations Thursday morning at the University of Nevada. “It reminds me of the training camp I had, when I was preparing for the first fight against [Marco Antonio] Barerra.”
Pacquiao was talking about his November 2003 win against Barrera where he knocked out the Mexican great in the eleventh round to capture The Ring and lineal featherweight championships.
He became the first Filipino to become a three-division world boxing champion by doing so.
Pacquiao, now the only-eight division world boxing champion, hopes to repeat those kinds of performances against Ugas, the super WBA welterweight champion.
“If this is my last fight, and I do not know if it is, I want to give the fans a great fight with lots of action and get that world title belt around my waist again. This fight means everything to me,” added the fighting senator, who has a decorated record of 62 wins on top of 39 knockouts, seven losses, and two draws.
Pacquiao was accompanied by head trainer Buboy Fernandez, assistants Jon Peñalosa and Nonoy Neri, and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune in running for a few minutes around the university oval.
This marks Pacquiao’s comeback fight since scoring a split decision win against Keith Thurman in July 2019 while Ugas last saw action in September last year against Abel Ramos to improve at 26-4 record with 12 knockouts.
Official weigh-ins for boxers in “The Legend vs. The Olympian” bout are scheduled on Friday, Aug. 20 there (Saturday morning, Manila time).
