Immediately following Manny Pacquiao’s unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas, Errol Spence’s trainer Derrick James give his reaction to what he saw in the fight and makes the statement that he believes Spence would’ve hurt the version of Pacquiao we just saw.
On if he was surprised by Ugas’ upset win
“I knew (the upset) could happen. I’ve always said he was very slick, very — what happens is that Pacquiao is faster than everybody but it’s all about timing, it’s not about speed. If you can time him and he kept Pacquiao off beat and kept him off balance and he kept hitting him to the body and Pacquiao didn’t want to engage him. I think Errol’s a more vicious puncher and he probably would’ve knocked him out.
“We can’t talk about his age and as long as he’s still trying to fight these young guys, it’s not about his age. Bernard Hopkins did it. Klitschko did it. You cannot talk about the age because if he keeps fighting like he wants to be champ you can’t talk about his age.”
On if he thinks this is the last we see of Pacquiao in the ring
“I hope so. What’s the point of (Spence-Pacquiao) now?”
On what would’ve happened if it was Spence across the ring from Pacquiao
“He’s a very physical fighter, he’s a very strong fighter, breaks guys ribs in sparring...I don’t know, man. I know what Errol’s potential is, I know what Errol’s abilities are.”