Pacquiao points to speed and ring skills when discussing canceled 2021 fight
Manny Pacquiao says he would have beaten Errol Spence Jr. in their canceled 2021 fight. Pacquiao pointed to his speed and ring skills as the difference.
The matchup was scheduled for August 21, 2021, in Las Vegas before Spence withdrew with an eye injury. Yordenis Ugas stepped in on short notice and outpointed Pacquiao over 12 rounds, a defeat that appeared to close the curtain on the Filipino star’s career at the time.
“Of course I wanted to fight him, because I know I can easily beat him,” said Pacquiao to Inside The Ring.
“[I would have beaten him] with speed. It’s not about strength, or how strong the punch is. It’s about skills and abilities in the ring and how you move. That’s boxing. That’s the secret to being an eight-division champion.”
Pacquiao was 42 when the bout was first booked, while Spence was in his prime and held titles at welterweight. Many viewed the American as the clear favorite at the time after Pacquiao’s long layoff during the pandemic.
Saying he would have won “with ease” is the most eye-rolling part. Spence was a unified champion in his absolute physical prime. Nobody, not even a peak Pacquiao, would have beaten that version of Spence “easily.”
Even if we look at the Spence who returned after that horrific 2019 Ferrari crash, he was still a physical powerhouse compared to a fading legend.
By 2021, the size difference alone would have been a massive hurdle. Spence was a huge welterweight with a piston of a jab and a relentless body attack. Pacquiao, while an all-time great, was always a blown-up featherweight.
If Ugas could keep Manny at the end of a long, straight right hand, imagine what Spence’s southpaw jab would have done. It wasn’t just a point-scoring tool; it was a power shot that set up his entire offense.
Even if Spence was at 80% of his former self, that version still possessed the volume and strength to bully an older man. It’s hard to imagine Manny’s legs holding up under 12 rounds of Spence digging into his ribs.
Legends often mistake their knowledge of the game for their ability to execute it. Manny knows how to beat a guy like Spence, but at 42, his nervous system wasn’t taking orders from his brain at the same speed anymore.
Fans don’t buy Pacquiao’s leg cramp excuse because we’ve seen this movie before. When a fighter says their legs “weren’t there,” it’s usually just code for “my timing and athleticism have evaporated.”