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ANALYSIS
'Bigger' Ugas doesn't have power, motor to make Pacquiao look his age
Before the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas clash on August 21 (August 22 in Manila), GMA Sports spoke to boxing analysts JM Siasat and Rafe Bartholomew to break down the fight and figure out what to expect in the WBA welterweight world championship bout.
While Yordenis Ugas believes eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will not knock him out
, boxing analysts say the Cuban Olympian will have a hard time keeping up with the more energetic Filipino boxer.Boxing analysts JM Siasat and Rafe Bartholomew described Ugas as a basic, conservative fighter who lacks the activity to go against Pacquiao.
"He's really not such a high-octane fighter. He does not possess dynamite in his hands," Siasat said. "He has height, he likes to stay on the outside, shoot the jab, very straight, very basic."
"He fights in a straight line. He knows how to use his jab, he knows how to shoot his right straight, he knows how to keep distance. and that worked against much lesser fighters na di siya bibigyan ng angle kagaya ni Manny Pacquiao. Will that work against someone like Manny Pacquiao who has fought mas malalaki pa kay Ugas?"
"What sticks out about Ugas is he fights a conservative style where he doesn't have that electric activity even of this 42-year old Manny Pacquiao," echoed Bartholomew.
Bartholomew believes Ugas will let Pacquiao work on his pace, unlike the latter's supposed opponent, Errol Spence, Jr.
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"If you're fighting an older fighter, especially if you've seen how Pacquiao paces himself now, he fights in spurts," said Bartholomew.
"The way I think Spence was planning to try and win this fight was with activity, to eventually overwhelm and push the older fighter into deep and deeper water where fatigue finally catches up to him late in the fight, and may be break him down, not necessarily to stop him but to win the later rounds on activity and youthfulness and stamina," he said.
For Bartholomew, letting Pacquiao fight at his own pace puts Ugas into a losing position.
"Ugas doesn't fight with that motor. He doesn't fight with that kind of pressure. He's not going to take advantage of his youth the way that I think Spence might have in the same match up against Pacquiao."
Bartholomew said the fight may be more fun to watch if Pacquiao perhaps gets in trouble against the Cuban boxer, but he believes it will not happen tomorrow.
"[Pacquiao] can still be that fast, explosive, and dangerous and Ugas doesn't have the style to make the older fighter pay for his age," he said.
Watch the Pacquiao fight against Ugas for the WBA welterweight super title on August 22 (Manila time) on GMA Network. Fans can also listen to blow-by-blow updates on Super Radyo DZBB.
—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News