Ugás beats Manny with a big upset

The Cuban kept the Filipino at a distance and punished him with a right hand to retain the WBC welterweight championship.
Cuban Yordenis Ugas pulled off the upset of the year by defeating Filipino Manny Pacquiao on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ugás took advantage of his height advantage to keep the distance with the Filipino and punished him all night with his right hand to wear down the veteran Pacquiao throughout the 12 rounds and defeat him by unanimous decision to retain the World Boxing Association Welterweight title.

After an even start to the fight, Ugas began to take control of the ring in the seventh round, being more effective with his punches against a Pacquiao who kept a high pace with his volume of punches, but most of them landed on the Cuban’s defense.

In the end the judges gave favorable scorecards –115-113 and two 116-112– for Ugas, who improved his record to 27-4 with 12 knockouts, while Pacquiao stagnated at 62-8-2 with 39 chloroforms.

This is one of the most important victories in the history of Cuban professional boxing and allows Ugas to retain his WBA welterweight championship, denying the 42-year-old Pacquiao the opportunity to regain the crown and become the oldest to hold the belt.