Cuban Ugas Upsets Filipino Pacquiao to Retain Welterweight Title
Voice of America
Cuban Yordenis Ugas pulled off a stunning victory over 42-year-old former champion Manny Pacquiao with a unanimous decision to retain his WBA welterweight world title after an intense fight in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The judges scored the fight 115-113, 116-112, 116-112 in favor of Ugas, who controlled the second half of the contest with his jab as the more aggressive Pacquiao struggled to land his punches on his return to the ring after a two-year absence. "Now the plan is to unify the title," Ugas, 35, said in the ring through a translator. "Everyone said he was the champion, now they know who the real champion is." Pacquiao was initially preparing to fight WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. but a retinal tear in the American's left eye forced him to withdraw, with Ugas agreeing to step in at less than two weeks' notice.FILE - Part of the temples of Baalbek, a UNESCO world heritage site in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, illuminated in blue light, Oct. 24, 2015. FILE - This picture shows closed shops on an empty street in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek on Oct. 19, 2024. FILE - People walk near the Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2024. FILE - A man sits amidst the rubble at a site damaged in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the town of Al-Ain in the Baalbek region, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Lebanon, Nov. 6, 2024.
Dr. Jaafar al Jotheri, shown here Nov. 10, 2024, holds satellite images and explores the site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyah, which was fought in Mesopotamia -- present-day Iraq -- in the 630s AD. A desert area with scattered plots of agricultural land with features that closely matched the description of the al-Qadisiyah battle site described in historic texts, Nov. 10, 2024.