I think there are two facets to this - how much was it Ugas style - tight defense with slick countering and a solid jab and sneaky right over the top - that never allowed Pac to get a rythym or flow going? Or was it all just that Pac's legs were gone and he could not generate the angles and find the distance he used to? I think it's maybe 50% of both, and regardless of the causes, Pac to me looked significantly declined to me compared to the Thurman fight (but Thurman was far more open than Ugas, which get's back to giving Ugas a lot of the credit for making Pac look bad) To be fair to Pac, IMO Ugas fought almost EXACTLY the same against Porter and I had him winning 115-113 in that fight, but Porter got the nod by the judges.
It wasn't so much who he beat but how he looked and how dominant he was. The handspeed, the unlimited gas tank. What he did to David Diaz in 2008 was the start of a run where he looked unstoppable. Of course Marquez crashed that party when he knocked him out, but Floyd was clearly worried about what would happen if he fought Pacquiao in 2009 or 2010, and for good reason.
It was the reach and sheer size of Ugas that bothered him, plus dare I say the lack of proper preparation. Never saw Pac as confused as that ever, looked as if he didn't specifically train for this fight. I agree that a fight at 140 against someone his own size who's not too explosive (like Crawford) could be a good farewell fight. But it's Pac, so I'm fairly confident that if he moves down to 140, he'd fight Taylor.
Pac did pretty good. Just too old now and not at that level. Hope he retires now as Spence would have stopped him in there. Nothing to prove but never know with Pacquiao and his financials
Everyone knows that old Pac is a 6 round fighter these days. We all saw that in the Thurman fight 2 years ago. He gassed badly in the 2nd half of that fight and Thurman was coming on. I expected Spence to give Pac a beating, which is why I'm so disappointed with Spence. This was his moment and he could have stopped Pac. I knew Pac would have trouble with Ugas in the 2nd half of the fight. He was once against tired and vulnerable in the last few rounds. He did as well as he could given his age.
Ugas fought very carefully in this fight and he had a good gameplan. If he had traded punches with Pacquiao then he could have been sent to the canvas.
he did perfectly ok, still a solid fighter even at that level. incomparably better than e.g. RJJ was at the same age whether he's content getting in the ring as a "solid" fighter, given that he was a peerless one on his late 20's, is a matter for him, I suppose.
Actually very good. Ring rusty, almost 43 years old, looks that 42 years and 8 months old, did not had fight 2 years before this fight. It was surprisingly good achievement if we know how old Pacman is and how ring rusty boxer is. For boxer older than 34 even 10 months without fight is damn serious ring rust. Very serious ring rust. For this weight class to be 42 y.o and be able to box 12 rounds normally is great achievement alone. Pacman is great boxer, actually damn surprisingly durable for this age. Boxers usually are " old " when they turn older than 33, it is young mans sport. HW boxers last longer ofc. Still, 42. If we know how looked Povetkin when he reached 37.
He didn’t look bad at all for a 42 year old coming off 2 years inactivity. His hands were still very fast and his conditioning and pace was still good. Now is a good time to bow out with dignity but if he wants to continue he should move down in weight and fight guys closer to his natural size.
