Manny Pacquiao's Trainer Disappointed With Original Foe's Pull Out, Wary Of Cuban Replacement

KEY POINTS

Freddie Roach is not taking Yordenis Ugas for granted
Pacquiao remains motivated despite the sudden change in opponent
Pacquiao's camp hopes they did enough to prepare the legend against a right-handed foe

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao appears all set for his showdown with replacement foe Yordenis Ugas although the level of expectations has unsurprisingly dropped.

Considering the original plan was to see two of the top boxers in the welterweight division, the magnitude has changed considerably.

There is perhaps no one else more disappointed than Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach.

“I was probably more disappointed than him, I think, because this is one of the biggest fights out there,” Roach told BoxingScene.com. “You had two of the best fighters in the world fighting each other. And now they give us an opponent that a lot of people don’t know and so forth.”

The change in opponent forced Roach and his group to alter their preparations for Pacquiao’s next fight. Originally, it was a battle of southpaws.

Meanwhile, Ugas sports an orthodox stance, forcing the "Pac-Man" to spar with right-handed training partners at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.

Roach tried to familiarize himself with Ugas. That included checking out past fights, including a controversial clash with Shawn Porter in March 2019. The Cuban lost that fight via split decision.

Although Ugas is a virtual unknown to most, Roach cautions that the Cuban knows how to fight.

Roach also pointed out that some fans felt the Cuban should have won that clash with Porter in 2019.

“He’s a great puncher and he goes for the home run quite a bit. I saw him go for the home run on one of the tapes and he fell down. He does go for it. He is a big puncher and coming from a Cuban background, he knows how to fight. That’s for sure. This might not be as big a name, but he’s a very quality opponent,” Roach stated.