There's no doubt that Errol Spence Jr. would have presented Manny Pacquiao with a dangerous threat had they fought as planned Aug. 21.
But how dangerous can fighting WBA (Super) welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas on short notice be for the boxing legend? DAZN posed that very question to Pacquiao during a Zoom conference call with Ugas on Wednesday.
Pacquiao maintained that taking on Ugas as a late replacement for Spence due to the unified champ's retinal tear in his left eye doesn't necessarily present more of a threat than scrapping with "The Truth" would have given him.
"I think the only adjustment that I'm going to make is southpaw and right-handed," Pacquiao said regarding preparing for Spence to now training for Ugas. "That's the only thing because Errol Spence is aggressive also and Ugas is aggressive, so that's good. We can create more action in the ring. The fans will love it."
Pacquiao additionally told DAZN: "In this case, we are both at a disadvantage. I was training to fight a southpaw and (Ugas) was training to fight a right-handed fighter. I consider myself a bipartisan fighter. I like fighting righties and lefties equally. On Tuesday, I sparred eight rounds with three different right handed fighters and got comfortable with that within the first thirty seconds. Experience can be a great equalizer when opponents change on short notice."
Meanwhile when asked how dangerous of an opponent that he can be for Pacquiao on short notice, Ugas merely vowed to leave his life's work of boxing in the ring with the icon next weekend.
"How much of a threat am I going to be? I can tell you that I'm not going to disappoint the fans that are supporting me," the 35-year-old Cuban boxer said. "This is the most important fight of my life.
"I started fighting when I was six-years-old, dreaming of this. I'm going to be ready to step up to the ring and give my all. I'm going to leave it all inside the ring and no matter what happens that's going to be my goal — leave it all out there and whatever happens, happens."
In speaking with DAZN earlier on Wednesday, longtime Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach anticipates the very best from Ugas and has already taken cautionary notes to the Cuban fighter's aggressive headhunting style.
“I’m watching tape on him, and he’s going for the home run a lot,” said Roach about Ugas who he feels like should have been declared the winner over Shawn Porter in their March 2019 tilt. “He throws a big overhand right. He threw a big overhand right in one of his fights. He started from a little bit too far away, missed and he fell down to the floor. I said, ‘This guy is just going for the f—ing kill.
"He’s not a typical Cuban boxer that’s real slick or anything like that.
“This guy is going for the knockout and looking for the knockout all the time.”