Eight-division legendary Manny Pacquiao's last professional bout was a 2021 loss to Cuban sensation Jodenis Ugas, and it's been three years since that fight. After the defeat to Ugas, Pacquiao soon announced his retirement, officially sealing his illustrious history.
Many fans struggled to accept Pacquiao's loss to Ugas, who dismissed it as more of an "accident" and still can't let go.
This week, Pacquiao's assistant coach Justin Fuqiong broke the shocking news, revealing the "real reason" of Pacquiao's defeat to Ugas, which was a big surprise.
Fortune has been an assistant to Pacquiao head coach Freddy Roach for many years, and for a long time, he was responsible for Pacquiao's strength and conditioning training, and Fortune believes that Pacquiao's loss to Ugas was caused by a wrong massage before the game, suggesting that head coach Roach is primarily responsible.
Fu Qiong recalled what happened on the night of the match, saying:"I was going to supervise the Ugas hand-wrapping and when I left there was a masseur there and I told him not to touch Pacquiao because Pacquiao had beenI didn't get a massage before the start of the game, so I couldn't do it. ”
Fu Qiong continued:"When I came back and saw Pacquiao getting a massage, I asked the masseur why was he doing this? In the end, Pacquiao lost, and Roach naturally did not take responsibility for this, but instead put the blame on me. At the time, I scolded the masseur, which embarrassed everyone present, including Roach. ”
When asked what impact massage can have? Fu Qiong said"Pacquiao would be so relaxed that the body released toxins that shouldn't be there, which is out of the norm, no one massages before the game, which affects Pacquiao's condition. ”
Fuqiong's point of view is quite "strange", if some people have found it difficult to accept Pacquiao's loss to Ugas before, then after listening to Fuqiong's words, it is estimated that the glasses have already been shattered at this time.
There may be some truth in what Fuqiong said, but in the author's opinion, the reason why Pacquiao lost to Ugas is more like the result of many factors.
At that time, Pacquiao's original opponent was Errol Spence, and when there were 10 days left before the start of the game, Spence withdrew due to retinal detachment of the eye, in this case, Pacquiao insisted on appearing on the stage, and chose Ugas, who was considered "mediocre", but he didn't know anything about the other party, and throughout the past, this kind of temporary contest was easy to cause an upset, because the protagonist did not have sufficient time to prepare, on the contrary, the opponent had a more psychological advantage in this case.
In terms of strength, Pacquiao underestimated the other party a little, you must know that Ugas was the world champion and the third runner-up in the Olympic Games in his amateur period, and his talent, foundation, and skills are quite outstanding, but he is not very obvious, which creates the illusion of "weak and bulliable" for Pacquiao, and feels that Ugas is just like this, and the result is declining.
Finally, and crucially, when he played against Ugas, Pacquiao was 42 years old and past his prime, while Ugas was 35 years old and had a clear age advantage. Judging by the game, you can easily see that Pacquiao is struggling, especially his legs are moving slowly as if they are filled with lead, so although the loss to Ugas is a bit surprising, it is also reasonable, and as for Fuqiong's revelations, you can add it to many factors.