MANNY PACQUIAO’S showdown with Errol Spence has been cancelled. The two elite welterweights were due to box on August 21 but Spence has had to withdraw due to a retinal tear in his left eye. This would have been one of the most high profile events in professional boxing this year. It is now another major fight that has had to be called off.
Event promoter Premier Boxing Champions stated that Spence only discovered the injury at his pre-fight medical with the Nevada State Athletic Commission in Las Vegas on Monday. Spence has now returned to Dallas, Texas and will have surgery on Wednesday.
Pacquiao will still box on that date. Yordenis Ugas, the 35-year-old Cuban who has been undefeated since his 2019 loss to Shawn Porter, comes in as a replacement opponent. Pacquiao said, “First and foremost I ask everyone to join me in praying for a full and complete recovery for Errol Spence.”
The hope is that Pacquiao-Spence indeed can eventually be rescheduled. Spence has had to contend with serious injury before. After surviving a terrible car crash he returned to boxing to beat Danny Garcia last year. He intends to come back to box the Pacquiao-Ugas winner.
“I came back from worse,” he declared. “Went to three different doctors [and they] all said the same thing. I’ll be back for the winner for sure.”