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A32 sports
Diaranson 11 augustus 2021

Spence drops out of Pacquiao fight with eye injury; Ugás in

learn he had a torn retina un- career defense of his WBA Ugás was scheduled to fight
til a prefight medical exami- title on the undercard of Pac- Fabian Maidana on the un-
nation by the Nevada State quiao’s meeting with Spence. dercard of Pacquiao-Spence,
Athletic Commission on Pacquiao beat Keith Thur- but the Cuban Olympic
Monday. man to win the same WBA bronze medal winner instead
title belt in his most recent will get the biggest showcase
Spence will have surgery at bout in 2019. of his up-and-down profes-
home in Texas on Wednesday sional career. Ugás has won
to repair the tear, but he will The 35-year-old Ugás was three straight fights, and he
miss out on his high-profile elevated to welterweight su- claimed the first version of
showdown with Pacquiao per champion in the WBA’s his WBA title with a split-de-
(62-7-2, 39 KOs), the former byzantine championship cision victory over Abel Ra-
eight-division champion re- system last January after Pac- mos in his most recent bout
turning to boxing after a two- quiao was abruptly stripped last September.
year absence. of the belt for inactivity. The
Filipino congressman quick- “I have a tremendous amount
(AP) — Errol Spence Jr. same date, the promoters an- “I was excited about the fight ly agreed to shift his focus to of respect for Pacquiao, but I
has dropped out of his nounced Tuesday. and the event,” Spence said. Ugás after Spence’s injury am coming to win this fight,”
pay-per-view fight with “There was no way I could was discovered, perhaps part- Ugás said in a statement. “Ev-
Manny Pacquiao on Aug. Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) holds fight with my eye in that con- ly because of the way he lost eryone knows my story about
21 because of a retinal tear the WBC and IBF welter- dition. I’d like to apologize to his WBA championship. how I came to America to
in his left eye. weight titles, but he has everyone. You know I’ll be follow my dreams of becom-
fought just once since Sep- back soon. We’ve come back “The proper way and the ing a world champion, and
WBA welterweight champi- tember 2019 due to a car from worse.” only way to win a world title now it’s time to stamp my
on Yordenis Ugás will step in crash and the coronavirus is inside the ring,” Pacquiao legacy with a victory as one
to face Pacquiao at T-Mobile pandemic. According to his Ugás (26-4, 12 KOs) was said. of the best Cuban fighters to
Arena in Las Vegas on the promoters, Spence didn’t scheduled to make his first ever put on a pair of gloves.”

Messi flies in to complete move to Paris Saint-Germain

(AP) - Lionel Messi fi- Instagram alongside a photo
nalized agreement on his with her husband on the PSG coach Mauricio Pochet-
Paris Saint-Germain con- plane. tino quickly made contact
tract and arrived in the with his fellow Argentine af-
French capital on Tuesday PSG supporters have seen ter Barcelona announced last
to complete the move that their club transformed over Thursday that Messi would
confirms the end of a ca- the last decade since the in- be leaving the club he joined
reer-long association with flux of Qatari sovereign as a 13-year-old.
Barcelona. wealth investment linked to
the emir. Once Messi’s Bar- Messi won every major hon-
Dozens of PSG fans gathered celona contract expired — or with Barcelona and was
at Le Bourget Airport in Paris and the Catalan club was un- granted a tearful exit news
to welcome Messi, who was able to afford to keep him — conference on Sunday to sig-
wearing a T-shirt featuring PSG was one of the few clubs nal the end of an era. Only
“Ici c’est Paris” — “Here is that could finance a deal to Cristiano Ronaldo in the cur-
Paris.” sign the six-time world play- rent era challenges Messi’s provided in the rules due to Association and a member of
er of the year. status as an all-time great. the pandemic and changes UEFA’s executive commit-
The 34-year-old Argentina are due to the system that tee, is involved in the process
star has agreed a two-year Messi’s arrival gives PSG PSG will be hoping not only were designed to stem losses. of discussing a wider update
deal with the option for a formidable attacking options that Messi helps the team re- It is PSG president Nasser to FFP that could allow more
further season, a person as he links up with France gain the French title it lost to Al-Khelaifi who, as chair- unchecked spending again.
with knowledge of the nego- World Cup winner Kylian Lille last season, but finally man of the European Club
tiations told The Associated Mbappe and Brazil forward win the Champions League.
Press. The person spoke on Neymar.
condition of anonymity to If Pochettino uses a 4-3-3
discuss the contract ahead of “Back together,” Neymar formation, the front three
it being signed and the offi- posted on Instagram over a could see Messi deployed on
cial announcement. Messi is video of them hugging, play- the right with Neymar on
set to earn around 35 million ing for Barcelona. the left and Mbappe between
euros ($41 million) net an- them as the center forward.
nually, the person said. While PSG had to pay 222
million euros (then $261 mil- The quandary for Pochettino
Messi’s father and agent, lion) to sign Neymar from would be how to use Angel
Jorge, also confirmed his son Barcelona in 2017, there was Di Maria, whose goal sealed
was moving to PSG in a brief no transfer fee for Messi. the Copa America title last
exchange with reporters at month, and another Argen-
Josep Tarradellas Barcelona- Messi became the most de- tine attacker — Mauro Icardi.
El Prat Airport on Tuesday. sired free agent in soccer It’s a tactical challenge most
history after his attempts to coaches would relish, with a
At the same airport, Messi stay at Barcelona were re- 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2 also in the
was later seen arriving with jected last week by the Span- mix to accommodate the at-
his wife and three children ish league because the salary tacking talents available.
before boarding a private jet. would not comply with fi-
nancial regulations, with the What should be less demand-
“With it all, toward a new ad- Catalan club burdened by ing is PSG complying with
venture. The five together,” debts of more than 1.2 billion UEFA’s Financial Fair Play.
Antonela Roccuzzo said on euros ($1.4 billion). Some flexibility has been