By Adrian Stewart Co
Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao has what it takes to pull off a stunner against undefeated American fighter Errol Spence Jr. in their world welterweight title clash on August 21 (August 22 in the Philippines) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons said the eight-division world boxing champion has the better speed and punching power to counter the height and reach advantage of Spence.
“Manny has quicker feet and punching power. He simply needs to time Spence’s signature jab and, once Manny figures out the jab, he will start to break down Errol Spence,” Gibbons said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo.
“Senator is taking on arguably the pound for pound #1 or 2 welterweight in the world. And these are the types of fights the senator’s always fought. And the senator’s not an old 42, he’s a very young guy, always staying in shape,” he added.
Gibbons also shared that it did not take long for the fighting senator to accept the match against Spence, who previously called out the Filipino ring icon for a world championship showdown.
“Many people believe Spence is the best welterweight in the world and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and Pacquiao has never shied away from fighting real fights,” Gibbons said.
“He’s not going to make a fool of himself fighting YouTubers or social media guys like Floyd Mayweather, and he wants to continue his legacy. He’s always fought the best, and he doesn’t want to change now,” he added.
Pacquiao, who sports a 62-7-2 win-loss-draw ring record, is making a ring return since his split decision win over Keith Thurman in July 2019 where he captured the WBA super world welterweight belt.
The 42-year-old Pacquiao, however, was declared as “champion in recess” by the WBA last January after the Filipino fighter’s almost two years of inactivity and has named Yordenis Ugas its welterweight champion instead.
Spence, the current WBC and IBF world welterweight champion, has 27-0-0 slate, including 21 stoppage wins. He came from a successful title defense against Danny Garcia last December./ASC, WDJ