It’s always interesting reading what the boxing experts say will happen going into a big fight. Be they fellow fighters, trainers, writers or commentators, the people with the knowledge are worth listening to. The regular poll of experts the folks at Ring Magazine compile is one list that is especially worth reading going into a big fight.
We have a big (ish) fight this Saturday night, as a superstar and all-time great Manny Pacquiao faces the skilled Yordenis Ugas in a welterweight title fight. It’s not the big, big fight we would have got, between Pacquiao and Errol Spence (this of course due to the eye injury Spence was forced to pull out of the fight with), but it’s Manny Pacquiao and it’s always a big deal when this living legend is in action.
Looking at the Ring poll, Pac Man will indeed gobble up one more opponent at least before he finally hangs up the gloves and waves a grand goodbye to the sport he enriched so much. Indeed, of the 20 experts asked, 19 pick Manny to get the win, while just one person, Norm Frauenheim, has picked Ugas to pull out the win. Frauenheim likes Ugas by 12 round unanimous decision.
Of the 19 who pick Pac Man, almost all of them pick him to get the win via the long route, while two experts – Mikael Zewski (a welterweight contender), Duke McKenzie (former three-weight champ) – pick Manny to get the stoppage win. A couple of experts think the fight will be close, with Ugas perhaps deserving the decision win but not getting it. While a couple think Pacquiao ‘might’ get the stoppage win, with them adding how it could go to points.
How much Pacquiao has left is of course something nobody knows; not even Manny himself, or trainer Freddie Roach. How aggressive will Ugas be is another big question people have. Will we see an action fight or a technical affair, perhaps one that doesn’t fill the paying fans with satisfaction? We’ve just had a real stinker of a fight with John Riel Casimero doing his best to chase down Guillermo Rigondeaux this past Saturday night.
Of course, Pacquiao’s many millions of fans simply hope their hero get the win over Ugas. But we hardcore fight fans hope for a good fight regardless of whoever emerges victorious. I’m sure Pac Man wants a great fight himself. If there’s one thing Pacquiao has prided himself on throughout his long ring career, it’s pleasing the fans.