By CARLO ANOLIN
Super WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas is set to prove his worth in the division as he takes on boxing legend Manny Pacquiao at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Aug. 21.
The Cuban boxer served as a short notice replacement for unified WBC and IBF titleholder Errol Spence Jr., who backed out of the mega-bout against the Filipino fighting senator due to a retinal tear in his left eye.
The 35-year-old Ugas was supposed to face Fabian Maidana of Argentina but the latter also reportedly had an injury related to the eye after training camp Monday, Aug. 9.
“As everyone knows, I want to defend my WBA world title against any-and-all challengers, but it seems not many of the top fighters are willing to fight me, even though I have a world title,” said Ugas in a previous interview prior to the shock development. “I take pride in being a world champion, and tremendous respect for the WBA. I will fight anyone they mandate as my number one contender.
“I am the boogeyman of the division and have to be a world champion to get fighters to fight me, and even then, I still can’t get the big fights. So, I take a lot of pride in defending my belt.”
Interestingly, when Pacquiao got stripped of his super WBA title last January due to inactivity, Ugas was elevated from being the “regular” champion and replaced the Filipino boxing icon.
It became permanent after the world boxing sanctioning body denied Pacquiao’s appeal for reinstatement last month.
Joining Ugas in the division’s champion list are Americans Spence, Jamal James (regular WBA), Terence Crawford (WBO), and Gabriel Maestre of Venezuela (interim WBA).
With the cancellation of Pacquiao-Spence, the throne for The Ring’s championship also remained vacant.
Ugas improved to a 26-4 record after scoring a split decision against American Abel Ramos last September 2020 while Pacquiao, 42, last saw action in July 2019 with a split decision win over Keith Thurman en route to the super WBA welterweight belt.
As an amateur, the 35-year-old Ugas collated a rich resume on board as the 2005 World Championships gold medalist and the 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medalist in the lightweight division.
He also reigned in the national championships for three years from 2005 to 2008 before moving to the US to kickstart his professional career in March 2010.
It was only in March 2019 where he competed for his first title fight against Shawn Porter. Ugas lost to a controversial split decision loss as Porter won the WBC welterweight title.
Meanwhile, the Pacquiao-Ugas bout won’t be the only showdown between a Filipino and a Cuban as WBO bantamweight king John Riel Casimero takes on regular WBA champion Guillermo Rigondeaux on Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. (Carlo Anolin) ###
