Manny Pacquiao was graceful in defeat and offered no excuses after suffering defeat at the hands of Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugas in their super WBA welterweight title bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, Aug. 21 there (Sunday in Manila).
"First of all, I want to thank God for keeping us both safe in the ring. And I want to thank the people, the fans, and the media, press for all the support in boxing. And I really appreciate their love for boxing," said Pacquiao, clad in formal suit and with his sunglasses on during the post-fight press conference.
"I did my best tonight but my best wasn't good enough. Tonight, no excuses. I wanted to fight for the title in the ring and the champion is named Ugas."
Ugas' win legitimized his status from being WBA's "regular" to its "super" champion after Pacquiao, the only eight-division world boxing champion, got stripped of his belt last January due to inactivity.
The 42-year-old Pacquiao, on Twitter, also extended his best wishes for Ugas and his team and gratitude to the Filipino people for the unwavering support.
Pacquiao, who stands at 5-foot-6, fought in a 12-round brawl with the 5-foot-9 Ugas but the Cuban Olympian proved his worth in the ring by showing who's boss with his powerful right hands in an effective orthodox stance against the much smaller southpaw.
Many fans and analysts were quick to point out though that Pacquiao's speedy footwork wasn't seen too much in this fight.
He remained flat-footed against Ugas, who was also minimal with his movements with his right counterpunches ready to negate Pacquiao's barrage of punches.
Pacquiao admitted that he cannot move around too well around the ring due to cramping on his legs.
"My two legs are cramping. I cannot move," explained the fighting senator. "That's why I cannot move around. In my early days, I can easily move and outbox him. You know, Manny Pacquiao but this time around it's like my two legs are tight and hurting me from the second round until the 12th round.
"But I'm not making any excuses. That's the reason why I cannot move and I'm just staying and countering him, his punches. That's what happened. That's boxing," added Pacquiao.