Published Tue Jan 04, 2022, 03:32 AM EST
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo: Boxing Scene
What seemed to be impossible became a reality when the World Boxing Association allowed the unification plans of three titles between Yordenis Ugas (WBA) and Errol Spence (IBF, WBC).
Spence was set to face Manny Pacquiao in the summer of 2021, but that fight was called off when the unified champion discovered an eye injury that required surgery.
Ugas agreed to be a late-replacement and shocked many observers when he outboxed the eight division beltholder over twelve rounds to secure a dominant decision win. Pacquiao would retire from boxing, and Ugas picked up the biggest win of his career. Now Ugas is motivated to make more history - by beating one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
The contest is being positioned to take place in the first quarter of 2022. “I am happy that we will have a great fight, the fight that I wanted, a fight that as I have always said will be historic for Cuban boxing. I'm happy to fight one of the best pound-for-pound. So I feel blessed and excited about this challenge," Ugas said to George Ebro. "One hundred percent [I can win this fight]. The fight that is not won is the one that is not fought. It's going to be a tough, strong fight, but my mindset is just that, looking for the toughest fights and giving everything of myself. It's going to be very tough, but I'm already preparing for that." And Ugas realizes that a lot of people view him as a big underdog. On the other hand, Spence has not been very active in the last few years, due to the eye injury and also a bad car accident in late 2019.
"There are fighters who seem easy or people believe they have no chance of winning, but I think I've gained a lot of respect since the Pacquiao fight and that is going to help me a lot with the [opinions of] people," Ugas said.
“We'll see [what he has]. He is a great fighter regardless. For my part, I'm going to prepare myself for the best version of Spence. I don't want anything to surprise me," Ugas said.
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