Is it time for Manny Pacquiao to retire after loss to Yordenis Ugás?
Manny Pacquiao looks to be at a crossroads.
After he lost via unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugás on Saturday — after Ugás took the fight on short notice, replacing an injured Errol Spence Jr. — all the chatter was about whether Pac-Man should hang up the gloves for good.
After the fight, even Pacquiao didn't seem ready to commit to extending his boxing career, saying that he will have to "consider [his] body" before stepping in the ring again.
Pacquiao has put together one of the most storied careers in boxing history, and even in his "old age" — Pacquiao is 42, considered ancient for an active prizefighter — he has remained successful.
In fact, since his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2, 2015, Pac-Man had won five of six fights prior to Saturday. His lone loss in that span was a controversial decision defeat at the hands of Jeff Horn in a fight that nearly every pundit had Pacquiao winning.
In his last fight before Saturday, Pacquiao defeated a previously unbeaten Keith Thurman via split decision on July 20, 2019.
But this weekend did not feature the Pacquiao of old, and the younger, bigger Ugás was able to impose his will on the Filipino legend before calling out Spence in the post-fight interview.
Is it time for Pacquiao to hang up the gloves? Depends whom you ask.
Skip Bayless watched Saturday's fight closely and had Pacquiao winning 115-113.
On Monday's "Undisputed," Bayless said he isn't ready to give up on Pacquiao, comparing the boxing icon to another veteran legend and arguing that Ugás was just the better fighter.
"I can't write Manny completely off because he's Brady-esque to me. He still loves to compete. And he keeps himself in shape," he said. "… I believe Ugás deserves much more credit than he actually got because to me, Ugás just looked so much bigger, so much longer and so much stronger.
"The point was he was too long and strong for Manny, and he was also too skilled and smart for Manny."
The stats from Saturday night suggest that Bayless is on to something.
Pacquiao landed just 130 of 815 punches for a 16% connection rate. Ugás landed 151 of the 405 punches he threw, a connection rate of 37.3%.
In addition, Ugás landed 59.1% of power punches (101 of 171) compared to 25.9% for Pacquiao (88 of 340).
Shannon Sharpe agreed with Bayless as far as Ugás' out-performing Pacquiao, but in his mind, that was the signal that Pac-Man should call it a career.
"It should be over," Sharpe argued. "Pacquiao started getting hit with shots he would have never got hit with early in his career — or, say, five years ago. But as we start to age, the reflexes just aren't there.
"You probably want to walk away a fight or two early, as opposed to a fight or two too late. There's nothing else for Manny Pacquiao to prove."
No word has come from Pacquiao as to when he will decide what the future holds, but late Sunday night (in the U.S.), he did reach out to his fans via Twitter.
If Pacquiao decides it's time to retire, he won't be remembered for Saturday's fight.
He'll be remembered for all the legendary moments before it.
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