Errol Spence Jr vs Yordenis Ugas | Fight Breakdown & Analysis
After 16 months out of the ring, IBF and WBC welterweight king, Errol Spence Jr, returns to action this weekend in a mouth-watering unification clash with the WBA Super champion, Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas.
Spence and Ugas put their belts on the line this coming weekend | CBS Sports
Despite not being the welterweight unification that all boxing fans desire, Saturday night’s dust-up could put us all one step closer to seeing who the best 147-pounder on planet earth is. Provided Spence wins, which the majority of boxing fans, media and the bookmakers do, that spine-tingling undisputed fight with Terrence ‘Bud’ Crawford could be the closest it’s ever been to happening.
However, the WBA Super champion could blow that all up in the air if he can pull off an upset this weekend against ‘The Truth’. Who is to say he can’t? At the end of the day, he did it in his last fight with the legendary Manny Pacquiao.
Looking at the fight on paper, you would have to side with Spence, there is no doubt about it. Coming in undefeated, with 21 knockouts in his 27 wins, victories over the likes of Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia and Kell Brook, that tells you all you need to know about the WBC & IBF welterweight champion.
Ugas however, can rip up the script once again by defeating the heavy favourite, which we know he is more than capable of doing. Like Spence, Ugas himself boasts an impressive 27 wins on his resume, with notable wins over the likes of Abel Ramos, Ray Robinson, Omar Figueroa Jr and of course ‘Pacman’ last time out.
Looking first at the undefeated Spence Jr, it is extremely difficult to pick out a real flaw in his arsenal. He has shown in his career to date that he can do a bit of everything. Whether that’s boxing on the back foot, coming forward and getting involved in a tear up or a bit of everything, the Texas native is your man.
Errol Spence is 27-0 with 21 of his wins coming by way of knockout | Sky Sports
The 32-year-old burst onto the scene, at least from a British perspective, when he came over to the UK and dismantled and broke down Kell Brook in impressive fashion. Since then, Spence has gone from strength to strength. Most recently we saw him in action in December 2020 in a unanimous decision victory over the tough Danny Garcia, who was, in the end, no match for ‘The Truth’.
However, that fight was a long time ago now, and Spence has been lacking activity. He has had just the one fight since the Shawn Porter bout in September 2019, with an out of the ring incident nearly bringing his boxing career and more importantly his life, to an end. It is just a blessing we get to see Spence do what he does best in the squared circle, and that is beat people up.
The former USA National Amateur Champion has held the IBF title since 2017, claiming it in that win over Brook, and has been the WBC Champion since 2019, when he defeated welterweight bogeyman, Shawn Porter, in a tough and gruelling 12 round battle.
Spence Jr is a relatively strong favourite with the bookmakers, and it is clear to see why. Team Spence will be hopeful of notching up their 28th professional victory and further stake their claim to ‘The Truth’ being the best welterweight in the world.
In Yordenis Ugas, you have a man who seemingly gets criminally underrated and perhaps overlooked, and it feels like groundhog day again this time around for the Cuban superstar, as not many boxing hardcores give him a chance against Spence.
Ugas somewhat shocked the world last time out, defeating one of the legends of the sport of boxing in Manny Pacquiao in August last year. The 35-year-old showcased his many talents and made it look easy at times against the Philippine hero. He will feel like he is riding the crest of a wave right now and in his eyes, will be confident of upsetting the odds once again this coming weekend.
Yordenis Ugas is looking to make it back-to-back upsets this weekend | DAZN
Ugas is Cuban boxing royalty and could be one of the reasons why Cuba as a nation are once again letting their boxers turn professional at home after a 60-year exile from professional boxing. Ugas, along with Guillermo Rigondeaux are two of Cuba’s finest boxers in recent years along with Luis Ortiz, so it is fair to say The WBA welterweight champion has had a huge part to play in this decision.
Apart from Pacquiao, Ugas’ best win is probably his split decision victory over Abel Ramos back in 2020, where he won the vacant belt and wrote his name in the history books as Cuba’s most recent world champion.
It is fair to say that Ugas is the underdog, and he himself would probably agree, but that isn’t to say that he isn’t capable of pulling off a shock win and putting the world on notice. Should the 35-year-old come away victorious, Crawford should be the first name on his lips. It could all work out quite nicely for Ugas, with the whole world crying out for Spence v Crawford, who is to say Ugas isn’t capable of beating them both and announcing himself as the real king at 147-pounds?
This fight is far from a pushover for ‘The Truth’, and with the inactivity of Spence raising a few eyebrows amongst boxing circles, don’t be surprised if we see an upset here in Texas on Saturday night.
Saturday night at the AT&T Stadium in Texas promises to deliver a great evening of boxing, headlined by this compelling welterweight unification clash between Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugas. A great fight for our viewing pleasure this coming weekend.
Fighter’s Form:
Errol Spence
Danny Garcia – WIN – UD (117-111, 116-112, 116-112)
Shawn Porter – WIN – SD (116-111, 112-115, 116-111)
Mikey Garcia – WIN – UD (120-107, 120-108, 120-108)
Carlos Ocampo Manriquez – WIN – KO Round 1
Yordenis Ugas
Manny Pacquiao – WIN – UD (115-113, 116-112, 116-112)
Abel Ramos – WIN – SD (115-113, 111-117, 115-113)
Mike Dallas Jr – WIN – RTD Round 7
Omar Figueroa Jr – WIN – UD (119-107, 119-107, 119-107)
Event Information:
Date: April 16th 2022
Time: Approx. 04.00 Ring Walk (GMT)
Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, USA
Promoter: Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)
Official Spence vs Ugas Fight Poster | Premier Boxing Champions
Elsewhere on the card, Isaac Cruz faces Yuriorkis Gamboa, Brandun Lee faces Zachary Ochoa, Radzhab Butaev defends his WBA Regular welterweight world title against Eimantas Stanionis, Cody Crawley faces Josesito Lopez as well as several more fights on a well and truly stacked undercard.