Who is latest Pacquiao foe Yordenis Ugas?

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Manny Pacquiao's preparations for his upcoming fight against Errol Spence Jr. were shaken up on Tuesday following the latter's withdrawal from the fight due to an eye injury.

With the scheduled bout just more than a week away, WBA (Super) welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas has been asked to step up for the American and will be the one to lock horns with the Filipino pug.

But who exactly is the latest foe for the 42-year-old Pacquiao?

Ugas was born on July 14, 1986 in Santiago de Cuba, holding a professional record of 26-4, 12 KOs.

Before being elevated to Super champion, Ugas previously held the WBA (regular) title in 2020 after he beat Abel Ramos for the vacant title.

The Cuban boxer also challenged Shawn Porter for his WBC belt, but lost via split decision in a rather controversial ending.

In his amateur career, Ugas won bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He also had gold medals in the 2006 Mianyang World Championships, the 2006 Cartagena Central American and Caribbean Games, and the 2007 Rio Pan American Games.

These were all done in the Lightweight division, though.

But perhaps the most important detail of note about Ugas is that he was the one the WBA choose to "replace" Pacquiao as the WBA (Super) titlist.

In January, WBA listed Pacquiao as a "champion in recess" after he was unable to defend the title he won against Keith Thurman in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ugas was then named the new champion.

It was speculated that the WBA could've returned the title to Pacquiao after it was announced that he would be fighting Spence for the IBF and WBC welterweight belts.

However, the WBA decided not to, which surprised the camp of Pacquiao.

Now, with Ugas standing in his way come August 21 (August 22, Manila time) in Las Vegas, Pacquiao has a chance to regain what was once his.