Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao may not be done with boxing quite yet.
Last weekend the Filipino icon was comfortably handled by Yordenis Ugas with the Cuban coming away with a unanimous decision verdict in Las Vegas. All three judges awarded the victory to the WBA Super World welterweight champion taking his record to (27-4, 12 KOs).
The loss was Pacquiao’s eighth of a 72-fight career which begun 26 years ago. During post-fight interviews the Pac-Man did not give a concrete answer regarding retirement but his performance and the lumps and bumps on display afterwards had many believing this would be the end.
Four days on from the fight Pacquiao spoke to The Athletic and indicated that a rematch, as had been mentioned in the aftermath, may still be on the cards.
“Yes, I can come back in January. I will see about it. I know I can rematch him if I want. I’ll just need to tell (Premier Boxing Champions head) Al Haymon. That would be no problem.
“I will think about it because I can’t believe that one of the easiest opponents, I ever faced did that.”
The loss and who it came against appears to be not sitting too well with the boxing/senator.
“(Ugas) only had one style, and I should’ve been able to easily move away… you’ve seen how I have moved in my fights before. I couldn’t move in this fight. My legs just… stopped.”
Pacquiao told the media on Saturday that his legs cramped up from the second round. ‘That’s why I can’t move around. I can, in early days I can easily move and out-box him’.
Whether this is a case of sour grapes, denial or the taste of defeat remaining raw since Saturday remains to be seen. The future hall-of-famer will now run return home this weekend before knuckling down with preparations to run for his country’s presidency. Polling day is nine months away.
Ugas admitted after his win he would be more than happy to give Pacquiao a rematch. The boxing world will now wait to see if the Cuban responds to his opponent’s comments.
Main image: Scott Kirkland/Fox Sports/PictureGroup