FILE PHOTOS — Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr. AFP
MANILA, Philippines — MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons thinks Errol Spence will have a reality check against Manny Pacquiao in their welterweight world title fight on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas.
Gibbons feels the undefeated champion’s defense is suspect, which will be exposed by Pacquiao in their highly-anticipated bout.
“I believe the Senator, being an eight-time world champion, first ballot Hall of Famer, understands how to cut the distance and break guys down,” Gibbons told boxingscene.com.
“I don’t believe that Errol Spence has that good of a defense. I really believe from when I watched him up close and personal that he has a great jab and he has good position with his feet but he is going to come to realize that the Senator has some Superman abilities – something out of this world at 42 and a half years of age – with the speed and the power.”
Pacquiao has been inactive since beating Keith Thurman back in July 2019 but that too has worked to his advantage, according to Gibbons.
“The time off has reinvigorated him. He feels great. The Senator fears nobody. He fears no fighters. He only fears God.”
Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) opened as a significant underdog against the 31-year-old Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), who holds the IBF and WBC belts.
But for Gibbons, there’s a reason why Pacquiao is boxing’s only eight-division champion and Spence is going to find out soon.
“Come August 21, he is going to show Errol Spence why he won eight world titles in eight different divisions. This is really historic for him because the first belt he ever won in the US was the IBF against Ledwaba and the first belt he ever won was the WBC as a flyweight so he has come full circle. Twenty-six years later here we are again. Amazing.”