Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images. Pictured: Errol Spence Jr.
The Aug. 21 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr. for the WBC and IBF welterweight championships is now off due to an injury to Spence.
Spence has reportedly suffered a torn retina in his left eye. Despite the obvious disappointment from the high-profile fight being canceled, Spence has shown some optimism as he heads towards recovery.
I Came back from worse
— Errol Spence (@ErrolSpenceJr) August 10, 2021
The undefeated Spence has 21 knockouts over his 27 career wins. His replacement will be Yordenis Ugas.
Ugas is a 35-year old Cuban who currently holds the WBA Super Welterweight title. He is 26-4 with 12 KOs. Ugas last fought in September 2020, securing a 12-round split-decision victory over Abel Ramos to win the WBA Welterweight title.
The 35-year old Ugas is obviously closer in age to the 42-year old legend Pacquiao—who is 62-7 for his career—so odds could swing Pacquiao’s way now, as Spence was a whopping 11-years younger than him.
The odds for Spence-Pacquiao closed at -210 Spence, +170 for Pacquiao.
Pacquiao has won three fights in a row and five of his last six since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015. He rebounded from that loss with a win over Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas. He dropped a decision in 2017 to Jeff Horn.
Since then, he won via TKO over Lucas Matthysse, a unanimous decision over Adrien Broner and a split-decision victory against Keith Thurman in 2019.
Odds were not immediately available for Pacquiao against Ugas.
