Notebook: Ugas embraces road warrior and underdog status against Spence
'Zurdo' eyeing cruiserweight title shot; GGG arrives in Japan; Herring return in works; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Yordenis Ugas is set to fight on Errol Spence Jr.’s home turf when they meet to unify three welterweight world titles and he has embraced it, as well as his status as the underdog.
“I’m happy to be fighting in Spence’s backyard, because they have great fans down there in Texas. It just adds extra motivation,” Ugas said through a translator at his media workout on Wednesday in Las Vegas, where he is in training camp.
Ugas, who made the first defense of his WBA belt by decision over Manny Pacquiao in August to send the legend into retirement, will meet WBC/IBF titleholder Spence on April 16 (Showtime PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a few minutes from Spence’s hometown of DeSoto, Texas.
Spence was the one who was supposed to fight Pacquiao on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas with Ugas in a defense on the undercard. But Pacquiao and Ugas were matched on 11 days’ notice when Spence was forced out due to a torn retina discovered in a routine pre-fight medical exam around the same time that Fabian Maidana, Ugas’ challenger, suffered an injury and was forced off the show.
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), 35, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, took advantage of the unexpected opportunity to fight Pacquiao and outpointed him 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 for by far his biggest win. It was a career-making victory he parlayed into another major fight with Spence, who had surgery to repair his eye and will be back in action for the first time in 16 months.
“The Pacquiao fight was a great night for me,” Ugas said. “After that fight my life changed in even more ways. But I’ve always kept myself humble. I showed everyone who the WBA champion was. I have my eye on continuing to make history.”
Ismael Salas, Ugas’ trainer, was quite pleased Ugas got the fight with Spence and said he is prepared for another big win.
“We’ve had a long camp and now we’re in the period where Ugas is starting to make the adjustments that he’ll need to be ready for what Spence brings,” Salas said. “I want to face the best Errol Spence Jr., because I want the fans to get a great show. This is one of the biggest fights of the year. If he’s in top condition, then Ugas is going to be ready to give him a hell of a fight.
“Yordenis came to us with three losses (in 2016) and since then we’ve been beating undefeated guys and going step by step up to this point of facing top fighters. Manny Pacquiao was the biggest fight of his career and Ugas beat him clearly. That was the same Pacquiao who had beaten Keith Thurman in his previous fight.”
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), 32, a southpaw, who has long been regarded as one of boxing’s pound-for-pound best, is set to make his sixth title defense and is the clear favorite. But so too was Pacquiao when he faced Ugas, who dismisses the odds.
“Being an underdog means nothing to me. I was the underdog against Pacquiao and now again against Spence,” Ugas said. “I’ve always been the underdog and it doesn’t faze me.
“It’s an honor to be in the ring with Errol Spence Jr. We’re fighting for three belts, but even more important is fighting for honor and respect. Fans can expect me to fight like a warrior. I’m going to take all of my hard work into the ring on April 16.”
‘Zurdo’ to cruiserweight?
Former super middleweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez knocked out Yunieski Gonzalez in the 10th round of an exciting light heavyweight title eliminator on Dec. 18 to become the mandatory challenger for WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol. He thought he had Bivol cornered for the fight he has been campaigning for and one the camps have discussed.
However, Bivol instead got the lottery ticket of a fight with Canelo Alvarez on May 7, leaving Ramirez looking for some other significant opportunity.
So, instead of waiting for the Bivol-Alvarez winner — and there was no guarantee the winner would fight him next anyway — or taking a tune-up fight, Ramirez (43-0, 29 KOs), 30, of Mexico, said he is willing to move up to cruiserweight and would like to challenge WBC titlist and fellow southpaw Ilunga Makabu (29-2, 25 KOs), 34, of Congo. Makabu, who is promoted by Don King, was at one point a target for Alvarez before he made a deal to fight Bivol.
“I’m always ready to take on anyone,” Ramirez said. “I was hoping to make the Bivol fight, but he took another route. It’s definitely disappointing but I’m glad he was rewarded with Canelo. He’s a good guy and definitely has a chance to change his life forever. Now, moving forward, as always, I’m open to fight anyone from light heavyweight to heavyweight, and why not start with cruiserweight? Golden Boy did mention Makabu to me and if he has the balls to face me, I will snatch that WBC title from him with ease. Despite the weight difference, I would out-skill, out-speed, and out-fight him in every aspect.”
Ramirez’s path to a light heavyweight title is blocked because Bivol is facing Alvarez next and WBC/IBF titlist Artur Beterbiev and WBO titleholder Joe Smith Jr. are due to fight on June 18 in a unification fight, although that bout has not been made official yet.
Golden Boy president Eric Gomez told Fight Freaks Unite that the company plans to soon meet with Ramirez and his team to discuss specifics about his next fight, which they hope will be in the late spring.
Quick hits
IBF middleweight titlist Gennadiy (41-1-1, 36 KOs), arrived from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Thursday ahead of his unification bout with WBA titleholder Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KOs), whom he meets on April 9 (DAZN) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, just outside of Tokyo. The fight was originally slated for Dec. 29 but postponed because of a surge of Covid-19 in Japan.
It’s not a done deal yet but former junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) likely will return in a lightweight fight against an opponent to be determined on May 21 in the ESPN co-feature of the vacant WBO interim middleweight title bout between Janibek Alimkhanuly and Danny Dignum, Top Rank told Fight Freaks Unite. Herring is changing trainers from Brian McIntyre to Manny Robles and wants to get his training situation settled before he commits to the date, according to Top Rank. Herring, 36, lost his world title by one-sided 10th-round knockout to Shakur Stevenson in October.
The heavyweight sons of two former heavyweight titleholders are set to fight each other. Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-0, 6 KOs), 30, of Baltimore, the son of Hasim Rahman, will face Miami, Oklahoma, native James McKenzie Morrison (19-0-2, 17 KOs), 31, one of the fighting sons of the late Tommy Morrison, in a 10-rounder that will headline a Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions card on April 29 (FITE) at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Promoter Lou DiBella is taking his “Broadway Boxing” series to Detroit for the first time for a card at Garden Theater on April 15 (UFC Fight Pass, 8:30 p.m. ET). In the main event, heavyweight Mike Balogun (18-0, 14 KOs), of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, will face Ahmed Hefny (13-2, 5 KOs), of Queens, New York, in an eight-rounder. The co-feature will pit bantamweights Ja’Rico O’Quinn (14-1-1, 8 KOs), of Detroit, against Jobert Alvarez (20-2-2, 7 KOs), of Renton, Washington, in an eight-rounder.
Top Rank acquired to the U.S. rights to a card at BUAP Arena in Puebla, Mexico on Saturday and it will stream on ESPN+ (9 p.m. ET). In the all-Mexican main event, WBC women’s bantamweight titlist Yuliahn Luna (22-3-1, 4 KOs) will make her first defense against Mayeli Flores (8-0-1, 3 KOs). Also on the card: lightweight Oscar Duarte (21-1-1, 16 KOs), of Mexico, will face Argentina’s Fernando Cancino (11-9-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-rounder and junior featherweight Bryan Mercado (20-1, 15 KOs) will face Mexican countryman face Pedro Tut (21-1, 6 KOs), in an eight-rounder.
Show and tell
One of the most legendary boxers in history was Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion. Johnson, who was outspoken and larger than life, boxed from 1897 to 1931, but early in his career he was denied a title shot because of he was Black. Finally, he got the opportunity in 1908 and traveled to Australia to challenge champion Tommy Burns. Johnson stopped him in the 14th round of their scheduled 20-rounder (in which they wore only 4-ounce gloves) when the police, by prior agreement, intervened when Burns was taking a beating. Johnson was involved in many big fights during his heyday, including when he knocked out the “Great White Hope” and former champion James J. Jeffries, who came out of retirement to challenge Johnson in 1910, in the 15th round of their scheduled 45-rounder in Reno, Nevada.
Johnson has transcended boxing like only a few other fighters have. He was born in Galveston, Texas, on March 31, 1878 — 144 years ago on Thursday. Here is one of the cornerstone cards in my entire collection, a high-grade Johnson rookie from the 1909 Ogden’s cigarette set that features boxers and wrestlers. In this grade it is a PSA population one, meaning it is the only 7.5 in the census. There are just four graded higher (all at the 8 level) and PSA has only graded a total of 96 Johnson rookies in any condition.
Ugas photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Ramirez photo: Team Ramirez, Golovkin photo: Naoki Fukuda
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