After Loss, Manny Pacquiao Is Left to Consider His Future

An hour after defeating Manny Pacquiao in their welterweight title fight, Yordenis Ugas strode into his news conference sporting a glittering watch and a matching, two-stranded necklace, a pair of shades and the wide smile of a man who knew he had just ascended.

From here, Ugas, the World Boxing Association champion, can push for bouts with other titleholders in the 147-pound welterweight class, or grant Pacquiao a rematch, if the 42-year-old ex-champion wants one. And before the fight, Ugas, a Cuban based in Las Vegas, expressed hope that a win over Pacquiao would help focus attention on the anti-government protests and fight for better conditions in his home country.

In the afterglow of his unanimous-decision victory, the biggest win of his professional career, Ugas, 35, calmly answered questions about the fight and his future. But when Pacquiao arrived, Ugas politely ceded the dais to the fighter who, starting in the late 2000s, spent a decade as one of the sport’s biggest stars and audience draws. Already the oldest welterweight champion in history, Pacquiao tried, and failed, to become the first boxer to win title fights in four decades.

Ugas was the winner on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but Pacquiao was still the story.

Since his pro debut in 1995, Pacquiao has won world titles in a record eight weight classes and parlayed boxing fame into political clout. Since 2010, he has served as an elected lawmaker in the Philippines — first as a congressman, now as a senator. In recent months, he has publicly considered running for president, and though he didn’t announce his retirement from boxing after his loss to Ugas, he dropped some strong hints.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/sports/manny-pacquiao-yordenis-ugas-fight.html