Manny Pacquiao revisited the 2021 defeat and said the problem began before he even entered the ring.
“For the Ugas fight, we did a routine that we did not usually do before a fight. That’s what happened to me, cramping in both legs.
“Before the fight, we did the massage machine. In the fight, I was cramping and could not move. It was the first time in my career that happened,” Pacquiao said to Inside the Ring.
Pacquiao was 42 years and eight months old when he lost that night. Across from him stood Yordenis Ugas, then 35, naturally bigger at welterweight and fresh enough to keep landing clean right hands through long stretches of the bout.
When a fighter with Manny’s resume loses, there is often a search for a “why” that doesn’t involve admitting the light has faded.
The cramps may have been real, but the visual story in the ring looked broader than that. Pacquiao still had flashes of hand speed and effort, yet he could not hold position, close distance consistently, or sustain exchanges the way he once did. Ugas stayed patient, boxed within himself, and punished openings when they came.
That is often how decline shows itself in elite fighters. The instincts remain. Small bursts are still there. The body no longer answers for every round.
Pacquiao’s focus on the massage machine feels like a reach because it ignores the tactical reality of that night. Even if his legs were 100%, he was dealing with physical hurdles that no routine could fix.
In his prime, Manny’s speed would have made that dangerous for Ugas, but at 42, the timing just wasn’t there.
What made it tougher for Manny was that Ugas was a massive welterweight. In contrast, Pacquiao looked like a blown-up featherweight trying to move a brick wall.
For an elite athlete, admitting that Father Time has won is the hardest pill to swallow. Attributing the loss to a “massage machine” allows Manny to believe his skills are still there, and it was just a freak physical mishap.
