Manny Pacquiao is still plenty motivated to fight on Aug. 21, despite the sudden fallout of his original dance partner.

The eight-division titleholder and senator of the Philippines is set to take on late-substitute Yordenis Ugas on the same date in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena following the news that Errol Spence Jr. had to withdraw from the fight because he was discovered to have a torn retina. Pacquiao-Spence, which put up for grabs Spence’s WBC and IBF welterweight titles, was an intriguing matchup pitting a generational great against one of the top welterweight champions in the division.

Although Ugas falls way short of the profile and challenge that Spence represented, the Cuban national has something that Pacquiao wants: the WBA welterweight title. 

“Ugas is a fighter,” Pacquiao said in a video uploaded on his Youtube channel. “He’s a champion. He took my belt. But I’ll see him later in the ring.” 

The title actually belonged to Pacquiao  (62-7-2, 39 KOs) before the sanctioning body stripped him due to the inactivity and awarded the belt to Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs). Although Pacquiao recently tried to get the sanctioning body to reinstate him as champion, Gilberto Mendoza, the WBA president, refused. 

Pacquiao’s handler Sean Gibbons was irate with the decision, saying in a prepared statement that the WBA never indicated that they would strip Pacquiao of his title.

“The WBA never inquired about Manny’s title defense plans,” Gibbons said. “The WBA never warned us Manny’s Super Champion status could be in jeopardy. The WBA never informed us that Manny had been designated its Champion in Recess. We had to read the WBA’s press release on that on the internet.”

For the moment, Pacquiao is grateful that his fight date has been salvaged and that his months-long toil will not be wasted. 

“I worked hard for this fight,” Pacquiao said. I’m ready for this fight. I trained like I was young. I remember the fight with Barrera once, I was excited. I’m thankful that Ugas is there to prove who is the real champion in the WBA. I believe that my sacrifices and my hard work and training is not wasted. I can still prove to the world who’s going to be the real champion.” 

As for Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), Pacquiao wished him well. 

“I pray for him, for a fast recovery.” said Pacquiao. “I hope everything is fine with him.”