On less than 24 hours’ notice, eight-division champion, and boxer laureate Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and his Hall of Fame trainer world-famous Freddie Roach converted their training camp, which for the past six weeks had been geared toward preparing for southpaw Errol Spence, the undefeated unified WBC/IBF welterweight champion, to new opponent WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas, who fights out of an orthodox stance.

On Tuesday, Spence was forced to withdraw from his August 21 blockbuster FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View showdown with Manny due to a retinal tear in his left eye.  Ugas, who was preparing to make his first title defense against Fabian Maidana in the co-feature of the Pacquiao-Spence card, stepped up to replace Spence and will defend his title against Pacquiao, the previous owner of the same title.

After six weeks of sparring and strategizing in preparation for fighting a lefty, Manny sparred eight rounds with three right-handed fighters on Tuesday.  Was it hard to adjust?

For Freddie, this situation is a first.

“Training camp injuries are part of the territory in boxing, though you hate to see a severe injury like the one Errol suffered happen,” said Freddie.  “In the twenty years Manny and I have worked together, he has never had an injury that postponed or canceled a fight.  That is amazing and a testament to Manny’s skills and conditioning.  I have had to deal with opponent changes before but never this close to a fight.  We still have two more sparring sessions remaining and though I am concerned, I’m not too concerned.  Manny adjusts to any situation.  He looked great in sparring on Tuesday. 

“I had Ugas winning his fight with Shawn Porter.  Ugas goes for the kill right away.  He likes to go for the home run when he throws his punches.  He would rather win a fight by knockout than on points.  There will be a lot of fireworks in this one.  It’s a fight, that’s for sure and the fact that Manny had the world title belt he earned by beating Keith Thurman given to Ugas without any warning or due process has given Manny a big incentive to really perform on August 21.  I think he’s really pissed at this guy!”