Notebook: Spence motivated to defend his house in unification fight with Ugas
Whyte speaks; Hagler-Hearns anniversary podcast; Kinahan sanctions fallout; Herring returns; Quick hits; Show and tell
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The way WBC/IBF welterweight titleholder Errol Spence sees things, there is no way WBA titlist Yordenis Ugas is going to come to his house and beat him in their three-belt unification fight.
“This is my house. This is my hometown,” Spence declared at their final pre-fight news conference on Thursday. “I love the Dallas Cowboys to death. I love AT&T Stadium and I appreciate them giving me the hospitality and making this my home. Come Saturday night, I’m going to win another championship in the home of the Cowboys.”
Spence and Ugas meet to unify their 147-pound titles on Saturday (Showtime PPV and PPV.com, 9 p.m. ET, $74.99) in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a home region fight for Spence, who hails from nearby DeSoto, Texas.
The fight will be his third fight in his last four inside the gleaming stadium. It is where he routed Mikey Garcia in 2019 and easily handed Danny Garcia in 2020.
“Everybody knows my motivation. I fight for my family, my friends, my city, the whole state of Texas,” Spence said. “I want to be the three-belt unified champion of the world and I want to become the future undisputed welterweight champion of the world. The first ever to do it (in the four-belt era).”
Terence Crawford holds the WBO belt, which would be the final piece to the undisputed crown for Saturday’s winner. A Spence-Crawford fight has been among the most in-demand fights from boxing fans in recent years.
Spence and Crawford have both said repeatedly they want to fight each other even though it has not come close to fruition. Perhaps now that Crawford is a promotional free agent it has a real chance of happening should he defeat Ugas.
“It’s going to be action-packed on Saturday night,” Spence said. “I’m looking to put on a great show and a great performance in front of my hometown fans. I know Ugas is coming to fight. I know his coach (Ismael Salas) has a great game plan, but come Saturday night, I’m putting on a great show and another great performance. I’m looking forward to adding the WBA belt to my titles so I have three belts. That means there’s just one more to go.”
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), 32, a southpaw, will be returning from a torn retina that required surgery in August. The problem was discovered during a routine pre-fight medical exam less than two weeks before he was to defend against Manny Pacquiao on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas. When Spence was forced out of the fight, Ugas, who was slated for his first title defense in the co-feature but was in need of an opponent when Fabian Maidana was injured around the same time as Spence’s eye problem was discovered, instead moved into the main event to face Pacquiao in a match made on 11 days’ notice.
Besides collecting another belt, Spence is aiming to show he is just as good following the eye surgery and an October 2019 car accident that kept him out of the ring for 14 months.
“When people say I can’t do this or I can’t do that, I prove them wrong every time,” Spence said. “I am the same guy I was before the accident and the injury. I feel like I’m better than that guy that fought Shawn Porter or Danny Garcia.
“This fight might not go the distance. Ugas is a tough fighter. He’s a guy that embraces the fight and wanting to go toe-to-toe. If he has to, he’ll do anything to win. I’m that type of guy. I’m the type of guy that if I have to go toe-to-toe, I will. If I have to stay there and fight, I will. If we get in the clinch and start fighting, I don’t think it’s going 12 rounds.”
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), 35, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, outpointed the legendary eight-division champion and sent him into retirement, and then turned his attention to Spence.
“I’m so excited for this fight,” Ugas said through an interpreter. “I have nothing but respect for Spence. He’s a great fighter and this is not only going to be a clash between us, but also between two of the greatest trainers in the world (Salas and Spence trainer Derrick James), so you’re not going to want to miss that either. Spence promises a knockout. I promise a win.
“I promise you blood, sweat, and everything that I have to give for my country and for my fans. For everyone watching the pay-per-view, we’re going to put on a great show and you’re going to see the same Ugas that put his heart and soul into this sport that means so much to me. I’m a warrior. I’m a competitor. I’ve been facing adversity ever since I was six or seven years old. I’ve been fighting ever since I was a little kid. This is nothing new to me. It’s going to be a great night for me but no different than any other fight that I’ve had throughout my boxing career.”
If you order Spence vs. Ugas on PPV.COM you will be automatically entered for a chance to win 2 tickets and hotel/airfare to an upcoming PPV event.
Whyte finally speaks
Dillian Whyte, now happy after some adjustments to his contract for his title shot against WBC/lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, finally broke his silence on Thursday, speaking at length with boxing media about he upcoming fight.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Whyte said. “We’ve worked hard. We fought tough fight after tough fight after tough fight and keep risking the position we was in. Even when we was mandatory the fight didn’t happen. We had to actually go through a legal process to get Tyson Fury to fight us after saying he would fight us when he beat (Deontay) Wilder and he become (WBC) champion (in the Wilder rematch). … We had to push the legal angle and we finally got him to fight me and here we are.”
Whyte, the WBC interim titlist and mandatory challenger, will square off with British countryman Fury on April 23 (ESPN PPV in the U.S., BT Sport Box Office in the U.K.) before an expected British record sell-out crowd of 94,000 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Whyte, who turned 34 on Monday, was talkative and in good spirits for his appearance in front of the media during Thursday’s video conference, which came after his team and Warren worked out their issues with a contract amendment earlier in the week, according to a source with knowledge of the arrangement.
For more on what Whyte had to say about the fight and his reasons for not being engaged in the promotion until now, please read the full story on Big Fight Weekend here: https://bigfightweekend.com/news/dillian-whyte-now-fully-engaged-in-promoting-title-shot-with-fury/
Hagler-Hearns podcast
Friday is the 37th anniversary of one of the all-time great fights in boxing history, the undisputed middleweight championship fight between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and challenger Thomas Hearns, both all-time great Hall of Famers.
The fight featured the greatest first round in boxing history and utter mayhem until Hagler knocked Hearns out in the third round.
To commemorate the unforgettable fight, TJ Rives and I discussed it on the Fight Freaks Unite Podcast with memories also from Hall of Fame broadcasters Al Bernstein and Barry Tompkins, who were ringside and part of the closed circuit and HBO broadcasts, respectively.
It was great fun to do this. Give it a listen here:
Kinahan fallout
In the wake of the United States government’s decision this week to sanction Dubai-based Irish national Daniel Kinahan, six of his associates and three companies he has ties to, and offer a $5 million reward that will lead to the “financial destruction” of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group or the arrest and conviction of its leaders, MTK Global and Probellum, two boxing promotional companies many believe have close ties to the powerful boxing adviser, have distanced themselves.
Dubai-based MTK Global, a promotional and management company Kinahan co-founded in 2012, has said for years that he is no longer involved with the company even though many believe he still calls the shots.
Nonetheless, MTK issued a statement that said it “will comply fully with the sanctions made by the US government against Daniel Kinahan. MTK parted ways with Mr. Kinahan in February 2017. He has had no interest in the business since then, and will have no future involvement with us. MTK operates ethically, transparently and lawfully. We will cooperate fully with all authorities and assist with any ongoing investigations.”
MTK Global CEO Bob Yalen added in a statement, “MTK Global will take every measure to ensure the company, and those who deal with it are fully compliant with the U.S. sanctions announced this week and take this matter extremely seriously.”
Many believe that Probellum, which was founded last year and is run by former Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, is also closely tied to Kinahan.
“Probellum takes the sanctions made by the U.S. Treasury extremely seriously and the business and its employees will be fully compliant with them,” Probellum said in a statement. “We have retained counsel in the U.S. to ensure that we fully comply with all rules, regulations and requirements related to this matter, including not working with any individual or company that has been placed under U.S. sanctions. This includes Daniel Kinahan and we can confirm that we will not have any business relationship or communication with him whatsoever.”
Probellum also took issues with comments from Top Rank’s Bob Arum about Probellum and Kinahan.
“Bob Arum’s comments implying that Top Rank has ceased a business relationship with Probellum are baseless,” Probellum said. “Top Rank is a competitor and since Probellum’s inception, Top Rank has never worked directly with us. Any suggestions that Daniel Kinahan is a shareholder or owner of Probellum are false and defamatory.”
Any company found to be doing business with Kinahan would face legal and civil action by the U.S. government.
Kinahan has worked with several top fighters and is (or was) an adviser to Tyson Fury, Josh Taylor, Terence Crawford, Michael Conlan and Billy Joe Saunders, among others.
May 21: Site set, Herring returns
The site is set for the fight between Janibek Alimkhanuly and Danny Dignum, who meet for the vacant WBO interim middleweight title on May 21 in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card.
The site will be Resorts World Las Vegas, which opened last June and recently hosted its first boxing event, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite and Big Fight Weekend.
The card will also include the return of former WBO junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring in the co-feature.
Read my full story on Big Fight Weekend: https://bigfightweekend.com/news/alimkhanuly-dignum-title-fight-and-jamel-herring-returns-may-21/
Quick hits
In addition to the $69.99 ESPN PPV, the Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte heavyweight championship event from Wembley Stadium in London will also be shown live in select movie theaters across the United States on April 23 (2 p.m. ET), Top Rank announced. The card will be shown in Cinemark, AMC, Regal, Marcus Theatres, Emagine Entertainment and Harkins Theatres through the distribution of Joe Hand Promotions. To see a list of theaters where the fight will he shown check the Joe Hand Promotions website: https://bit.ly/furywhyte.
Former featherweight title challenger Ruben Villa (18-1, 5 KOs), 24, of Salinas, California, headlines a Thompson Boxing card against Horacio Garcia (35-5-1, 25 KOs), 31, of Mexico, in a 10-rounder Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California. The card will stream on the Thompson Boxing YouTube and Facebook pages and will be Villa’s first fight since October 2020, when he got dropped twice and lost a decision to Emanuel Navarrete for the vacant WBO featherweight title. “I am glad to be back,” Villa said. “My opponent is a solid guy, he is talented, but I see myself as a world champion, and just made small mistakes in my last fight that cost me a world title. The experience I’ve gained makes me an even more dangerous fighter, and you will see that in this fight."
Heavyweight prospect Lenier Pero (6-0, 3 KOs), 29, who was a decorated amateur, including a 2016 Olympian for Cuba, headlines a Warriors Boxing and Rivalta Boxing card May 7 at the Hialeah Park Casino in Hialeah, Florida. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound southpaw Pero will face Puerto Rican Hector Perez (7-4, 3 KOs), 31, for a regional title in the 10-round main event.
Show and tell
When undisputed middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler defended against fellow Hall of Famer Thomas Hearns it was a mega fight that managed to far exceed to the massive hype. Simply, it is one of the handful of greatest fights of all time, an electrifying, all-out slugfest for the two-plus rounds that it lasted. From the opening bell of the first round — the greatest first round in boxing history — until Hagler knocked Hearns out in the third, it was a breathtaking battle of unmitigated violence that decades later is still talked about with reverence. The fight was on April 15, 1985 — 37 years ago on Friday.
Here are three items from the fight in my collection: The LeRoy Neiman-painted version of the site poster, an official program and one of the more unusual items in my collection — and official ticket order form.
Spence-Ugas photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Herring/Arum photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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Jeez Dan you've given us nothing on the compelling mix between Ruiz-Spong, Luis Ortiz gave us his views, LOL...this is embarassing for Andy's followers.
Very strange for Whyte to start being cooperative without receiving more money for the fight - I don't blame Whyte btw I think he was treated badly by the WBC.
I thought Whyte may have been given a percentage of the ppv money but more money is said not to be what's changed - the only other thing I can think of is that Arum gave him some guarantee for a subsequent fight.