Pacquiao may kiss Ugas rematch goodbye

CEBU, Philippines —  Filipino ring star Manny Pacquiao hinted at retirement following his shocking defeat at the hands of Cuban champion Yordenis “54 Milagros” Ugas exactly a month ago.

Pacquiao, a heavy favorite, suffered a disheartening loss by unanimous decision to Ugas, who went on to claim the WBA ‘Super’ welterweight title last August 21 at the T-Mobline Arena in Las Vegas.

While he mulls on hanging up his gloves up for good, Pacquiao  has indicated at the same time that he still wants to fight, most probably a rematch with Ugas in January next year.

While Ugas is open to slug it out with Pacquiao again, the possibility for it to happen is very remote.

   At the moment, talks are rife for a unification bout with Ugas and the undefeated WBC/IBF welterweight titlist Errol Spence, Jr.

Not only that, the WBA has recently required Ugas to face next mandatory challenger Eimantas Sationis of Lithuania within three months since the issuance of its order last September 16.  

The winner of the Ugas-Sationis duel will then take on the winner of the other box-off between Jamal James and Radzhab Butaex to determine who is the real WBA welterweight king on or before March 2022.

“The championship committee call(s for a) Box-Off as necessary for WBA Welterweight division in order to have one champion,” stated WBA Championship committee chairman Carlos Chavez in a final resolution. “Based on the hierarchy of WBA rankings the eligible boxers are: Yordenis Ugas (“Super Champion”), Jamal James (“Regular Champion”), Radzhab Butaev (“official challenger”) and Eimantas Stanionis (“leading available contender”).

“In accordance to the previous resolution, Jamal James shall box official contender in Radzhab Butaev by November 2021. Yordenis Ugas must defend the title against the next leading available contender Eimantas Stanionis within 120 days from the date of this resolution. The Super Champion must box the regular champion by the end of March 2022,” Sanchez added.

With this mandate of the Panama City-based sanctioning body, Pacquiao’s planned return match with Ugas seems getting dimmer.

On what the future holds for Pacquiao as far as his illustrious boxing career is concerned, the only eight-division world champion in history will make a formal announcement anytime soon.