Aside from many boxing fans, Manny Pacquiao himself has been looking forward to his much-awaited comeback fight since 2019.
The match, however, nearly went into naught after Errol Spence Jr. suffered an eye injury two weeks prior to their mega-bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Aug. 21 there.
Thanks to Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugas, who holds the super WBA welterweight belt previously owned by Pacquiao, the show went on.
READ: Ugas on fighting Pacquiao: This means the world to me
The 42-year-old Pacquiao, however, believed that without Ugas in the picture, the match could have been entirely scrapped.
"Considering cancelling the fight? I mean, if there's no Ugas in the undercard, if there's no same weight in the undercard, I think probably the fight will be cancelled," said Pacquiao in a recent online press conference.
"But it happed that way. It's a good thing that Ugas is in the same weight, in the welterweight division and he's in the undercard," added the Filipino fighting senator, who has 62 wins with 39 knockouts, seven defeats, and two draws in his rich boxing career.
READ: Pacquiao says stance switch ‘only danger’ in facing Ugas
Pacquiao, of course, wouldn't back down from a fight especially after spending the first half of 2021 in early training camp here in the Philippines before flying to Los Angeles last month to train with coach Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym.
While the Spence bout is moved on a later date, Pacquiao, the only-eight division world boxing champion is set to prove doubters wrong when he clashes with the 35-year-old Ugas.
READ: Ugas out to prove worth vs Pacquiao
"It happened that there's an injury on our opponent (Spence). While we don't fight each other , we settle down 'Who is the WBA champion?'"
Interestingly, Ugas was elevated from being WBA's "regular" to "super" champion after the world sanctioning body denied Pacquiao's appeal for reinstatement.
The Filipino boxing legend got stripped of his belt last January due to his inactivity and was named "champion in recess" in the process.
Nonetheless, Pacquiao expressed no disappointment at all, expecting that the fans will still love the upcoming match against the aggressive Ugas.
Ugas, for his part, echoed Pacquiao's sentiment and vowed not to disappoint his supporters.
"This is the most important fight of my life," Ugas, who has a 26-4 record with 12 KOs, said through a translator's help. "I started fighting when I was six years old dreaming of this. I'm gonna be there to step up to the ring and I'm gonna give it all inside the ring. No matter what happens, that's gonna be my goal."
Pacquiao has not fought since scoring a split decision win over Keith Thurman in July 2019 en route to the super WBA belt while Ugas beat American Abel Ramos in September 2020 for the then-vacant regular WBA title. (Carlo Anolin) ###