Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has lost an appeal to have his WBA 'super' welterweight title reinstated ahead of his historic showdown with Errol Spence Jr on August 21.
The WBA president Gilberto Mendoza said in a statement that the appeal against the decision by the World Boxing Association to effectively downgrade Pacquiao to that of 'champion in recess' has been dismissed as "the regulations do not allow them to move Pacquiao from ‘champion in recess’ to ‘super champion.'"
In effect this confirms that the WBA is not prepared to reinstate Pacquiao as the WBA 'super' welterweight champion and, if all goes to plan, Yordenis Ugas will instead face off against Andre Berto in the first defence of his title.
Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), 42, of Kibawe, Philippines, was recently stripped of his title due to inactivity back in January with Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs), 34, of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, being elevated to the status of the WBA 'super' welterweight champion before surprising boxing fans by announcing that he is coming out of retirement to return to the ring against undefeated unified WBC and IBF welterweight champion Spence Jr (27-0, 21 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Filipino-born boxer is the only eight-division world champion in boxing history and became the oldest welterweight world champion in the history of the sport when he defeated Keith Thurman to claim the WBA belt in July 2019.
However, the 41-year-old will have his work cut out with Spence Jr, who boasts an incredible knockout-to-win ratio of 78%. His most recent victory came against Danny Garcia at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, where he won by a wide unanimous decision to retain his WBC and IBF welterweight titles.
He has also been warned by his old foe Floyd Mayweather Jr who has thrown his backing behind his fellow American to upstage his former rival when they share the ring later this summer.
Mayweather said: “Of course, I’m behind Errol Spence 100%.
“I wanna see Spence win. Actually, I’m going to call him and give him some pointers.
“Pacquiao, he has to fight but I don’t, I put myself in a position where I don’t have to fight anymore.
“I’m financially set, and I want to make everybody hear this. You’re going to hear a lot of people say ‘Floyd needed to do this’, no, I’m well off.”
Naturally, it didn't take long for Pacquiao to respond in kind, as he also took aim at Mayweather's exhibition bout against Logan Paul.
During a recent appearance on 'The Power & Play Show', he said: “If I’m fighting for the money, then I would have picked some scrub to fight.
“Why would I try to fight an undefeated fighter if I’m chasing the paycheck? This is a real fight.
"I fight because this is my passion. I love beating undefeated fighters and bringing honour to my country.
“I’m not like some other guys who are in it just for the money.
“Some other fighters challenge non-boxers just to get paid. I want to fight. I want to challenge the best.”
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