Manny Pacquiao is all set to face Yordenis Ugas on Saturday, Aug. 21 at the T-Mobile Arena, a fight that has lost a bit of its luster. Most were expecting Errol Spence Jr. originally but an eye injury forced the undefeated boxer out.
From an underdog, Pacquiao is now a heavy favorite to prevail over the 35-year-old Ugas. However, there were concerns that since the Pac-Man’s camp was preparing for a southpaw, such may become a problem for the 42-year-old Filipino boxing icon.
All that is except for Cam F Awesome (Lenroy Thompson) who feels that Pacquiao should have no problem adjusting to Ugas in the upcoming clash. The 33-year-old decorated amateur boxer gave his take when he appeared on the Sports Bytes PH podcast on Friday opposite this writer, Rica Aquino and Vincent Juico.
“No, I don’t think it will factor in. I think it would be more of a difficult for a guy (orthodox) to realize he is fighting a southpaw at the last minute than for a southpaw to find out he is fighting an orthodox fighter,” Awesome stated.
He also added that at Manny Pacquiao’s level, any guy could switch left or right against him and it’s not going to make much of a difference.
“I think at that level with their boxing IQs, it’s not going to make a difference for Manny Pacquiao,” Awesome added.
However, Awesome did agree that the long layoff of the eight-time division may be something that could work against Pacquiao, not to mention his age.
“Could this be the time that Pacquiao declines a little bit? He has not shown any signs of it but it wil happen eventually,” the boxer-turned actor quipped.
Pacquiao is the odds-on-favorite to win on Saturday with an implied probability of 78.72% to win over Ugas. The Cuban holds a +240 to pull off a win over the Filipino boxing icon.
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