Notebook: Spence, Ugas show respect but are highly motivated for victory
Kovalev to face Tervel Pulev with Kubrat Pulev on card; Berlanga checks in from camp; Quick hits; Show and tell
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First things first.
Unified welterweight world titlist Errol Spence Jr., who was medically cleared to resume training a few months ago, said his right eye is just fine as he prepares to fight Yordenis Ugas in a much-anticipated three-belt unification fight on April 16 (Showtime PPV) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“My eye has been good,” Spence said at the recent kickoff news conference to announce the fight, which will take place in Spence’s home region. “Sparring has been great and I’ve been looking good. I’ve taken some hits and my eye feels great. I haven’t been in the ring in a year and a half, but I’ve been focused and in the gym training every day.”
Spence, of course, was supposed to defend his WBC and IBF belts against Manny Pacquiao this past Aug. 21 in Las Vegas but during a routine pre-fight exam a little less than two weeks before the bout Spence was found to have a detached retina in his right eye.
Spence was forced out of the fight and underwent surgery. Ugas, who was scheduled to defend his WBA title on the undercard, also lost his opponent, Fabian Maidana, to injury around the same time. So, Pacquiao and Ugas agreed to face each other. Ugas outpointed Pacquiao, sent him into retirement and set himself up for the unification bout with the now-healthy Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), who turned 32 on March 3.
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), of Dallas suburb Desoto, Texas, who will be making his sixth defense, said he is by no means underestimating Ugas, who will be making his second defense.
“He’s a tough competitor who comes to fight. I thought he beat Shawn Porter in 2019 and then he beat Pacquiao with an arm injury,” Spence said. “He’s a great warrior, but I believe that it’s my time to show the world that I’m here to win another belt. At the end of the day, I want to be the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. This is another step toward that goal. I’ve been the shot caller. I’m the big fish at 147.
“I feel very sharp right now. My last couple of fights I was really only able to train for about two months. But I’ve been in the gym for the last six months getting ready for this. This is going to be a great fight. Ugas always comes to compete. With all respect to Pacquiao, I’m a way different fighter than Pacquiao and at this point I’m a better fighter. Ugas is a real warrior, but I’m hungry too. I’m not letting this opportunity pass by me.”
As excited for the fight as Spence is, so is Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), 35, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami,
“I have nothing but respect for Errol Spence Jr., for his team and his trainer,” Spence said through an interpreter. “What you are going to see on April 16 is two of the three best welterweights in the world face to face and ready to give a great show for the fans.
“I’ve fought since I was 6 years old. I have overcome any and all challenges. I was ready for Pacquiao and I’m going to be ready for Spence. Like I said before, I’m so excited for this fight to be able to show people what I’m worth. I can promise you that I’m going to be ready. I’m a warrior. I’m someone who is committed to his family, to his community, to his team. I’m going to give the fans more than 100 percent of what I can give and I can promise you it’s going to be something you don’t want to miss.”
Spence will be fighting at the home of the Dallas Cowboys for the third time in his last four fights. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones flew from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis to make sure he was at the press conference.
“These men have proven beyond any doubt how much they will compete and how much they will fight to reach their goals,” Jones said. “After meeting them and watching them, it doesn’t take me long to understand why they fight.”
talkSport appearance
For many years I have appeared every Monday night for a boxing segment on talkSport, the No. 1 sports radio station in the United Kingdom. I have also done some more recent appearances on its new YouTube show. I was a guest on the show on Monday and we discussed the Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall fight, the controversy over the scoring and judging in general. We also talked about Anthony Joshua’s decision to change trainers and the possibility of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk being postponed because Usyk is at home in Ukraine fighting against the Russian invasion. You can watch the show here:
Kovalev, Pulev brothers card
With the fight between former unified light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev and Meng Fanlong falling apart when Triller failed to finalize the bout and Meng went in another direction, Kovalev will instead face Tervel Pulev in the main event of a Triller Fight Club pay-per-view card being planned for May 14 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
Kovalev and Pulev will meet at a catch weight near the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds, the source said.
Pulev (16-0, 13 KOs), 39, of Bulgaria, is the younger brother of two-time heavyweight world title challenger Kubrat Pulev, who is due to fight in the co-feature. Tervel Pulev claimed an Olympic bronze medal at the 2012 London Games, losing to Oleksandr Usyk in the heavyweight semifinals.
Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs), 38, a Russia native fighting out of Santa Monica, California, has not fought since Canelo Alvarez moved up from middleweight to light heavyweight and spectacularly knocked him out in the 11th round to take his world title in November 2019.
He had a January 2021 fight with Bektemir Melikuziev canceled due to a testing positive for synthetic testosterone in a sample given to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
Kubrat Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs), 40, of Bulgaria, is slated to face Andrey Fedosov (32-3, 26 KOs), 35, a Russia naïve fighting out of Hollywood, California, in the co-feature, according to the source.
Pulev’s two losses came by knockout in mandatory heavyweight title fights with Wladimir Klitschko in 2014 and Anthony Joshua in his most recent fight in December 2020.
Fedosov has only had three fights since 2016 but is coming off an upset first-round knockout of two-time Olympian Mahammadrasul Majidov in April 2021.
Berlanga camp update
Super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga, the hard-hitting Brooklyn, New York-based Puerto Rican, decided to hold training camp for his upcoming fight with Steve Rolls away from home — in Las Vegas
That is where Berlanga did his physical therapy following surgery to repair a torn left biceps he suffered during the third round of a 10-round decision victory over former world title challenger Marcelo Esteban Coceres on the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III undercard in October.
After the rehabilitation, Berlanga decided to stay in Las Vegas to train for the fight with Rolls, whom he will face in a 10-rounder that will headline the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on March 19 (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“I came out here to Vegas to get a different training environment and take everything to the next level, but also to do physical therapy on my bicep, which I tore in my last fight,” Berlanga said. “The UFC (Performance Institute) is amazing. The physical therapy is just different. They’ve worked very well on my bicep and they got it back to 100 percent so I’m happy.”
During his time in Las Vegas, Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs), 24, trained alongside several other top prospects.
“I love the environment here, being with top fighters such as Jared Anderson, Troy Isley, Duke Ragan, Kenneth Sims and Bruce Carrington (who is also on the March 19 card),” Berlanga said. “These are the type of fighters and the gym environment I want to be around as I’m progressing in my career. If you’re doing something wrong, you’ve got your brothers around to tell you. They could be in the ring sparring, and I can pick up some of the things that they are doing.”
After scoring 16 consecutive first-round knockouts to begin his career, he has gone the eight- and 10-round distance in his last two fights.
Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs), 37, of Toronto, suffered his only loss by fourth-round knockout to Gennadiy Golovkin at Madison Square Garden in June 2019.
Quick hits
A Showtime card planned for April 9 that will feature Erickson Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs) versus Sebastian Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KOs) for the vacant WBC interim junior middleweight title in the main event and former junior middleweight titlist Tony Harrison (28-3-1, 21 KOs) against Sergio Garcia (33-1, 14 KOs), which has not been formally announced yet, will take place at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite. Initially, the card was being planned for Los Angeles.
Hanna Gabriels (21-2-1, 12 KOs), 39, of Costa Rica, who holds the WBC women’s heavyweight title and WBA light heavyweight belt, will be co-promoted by Probellum, becoming the latest boxer with promoter Lou DiBella to also join Probellum as part of their recently announced alliance. Gabriels has won three fights in a row since a decision loss to Claressa Shields in their middleweight title fight in 2018. “With Probellum behind me, supporting the work of DiBella Entertainment and my manager Hector Fernandez, I can establish myself as one of the greatest female boxers to have ever lived and use my platform to continue empowering women through sport,” Gabriels said. “I’m going to unify my division then I’m coming down to 168, after unifying there I’m coming down to 160 pound — and I want them all,” Gabriels said.
Former junior featherweight titlist TJ Doheny (22-3, 16 KOs), 35, an Irish southpaw fighting out of Australia, is due to face former world title challenger Cesar Juarez (27-10, 20 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout on March 19 in Dubai. The bout is part of the second night of back-to-back Probellum cards with night No. 2 headlined by flyweight titlist Sunny Edwards defending against Muhammad Waseem and former junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis facing Tyrone McKenna in the co-feature. Doheny is coming off a decision loss to Michael Conlan in an interim featherweight title bout last August and has lost two in a row. Juarez has won two fights in a row.
Show and tell
After Evander Holyfield became the undisputed cruiserweight champion he moved up to heavyweight and eventually became undisputed champion in a second division. But Holyfield’s success as a heavyweight was anything but a given. Pretty much everybody questioned whether his lack of size would allow him to be successful against the big guys. He scored knockouts in his first two heavyweight bouts against James “Quick” Tillis and former titlist Pinklon Thomas but then came what was supposed to be his first serious test against former titleholder Michael Dokes, who had won 11 fights in a row since losing the WBA belt.
They met at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in a Showtime-televised main event and put on a helluva fight. It was a slugfest all the way. Dokes lost a point for low blows in the sixth round when Holyfield opened a cut over his left eye. In the 10th round Holyfield hurt Dokes with a pair of left hooks during an onslaught of shots that sent him reeling into the ropes before following with a punishing right hand that dropped him as referee Richard Steele rushed in to stop the fantastic fight. It was a violent conclusion to a battle so outstanding that it was named as the best heavyweight fight of the 1980s by The Ring magazine. The fight was on March 11, 1989 — 33 years ago on Friday. Here is the program in my collection.
Spence-Ugas/Jerry Jones photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime
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Thanks for the information, always a lot more then you can find anywhere else on any forum. Keep obsessing ..............Nothing but the straight dope I like that.............
Holyfield-Dokes is an incredibly fun fight; if you haven't seen it Fight Freaks, check it out! I expect Kovalev-Pulev to be the opposite of incredibly fun... Triller is serving up a heap of crap with that card. I'll pass, thank you.