Why Yordenis Ugás is worth your attention in his upcoming bout with Manny Pacquiao
There is a super fight happening Saturday in Las Vegas. It just isn't the one many expected.
Yordenis Ugás (26-4) will face off against the legendary Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2), with Ugás stepping in to take the fight in place of WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
Ugás got the opportunity in the wake of Spence suffering a torn retina in his eye during his camp in preparation for the fight.
Now, WBA champ Ugás will step onto the largest platform of his career to date, with a chance to make a statement in a fight against one of the all-time greats in Pacquiao.
Here are a few key facts to know about Ugás ahead of his welterweight bout with Pacquiao.
He has a strong amateur résumé.
At 35 years old and 30 fights into his professional career, Ugás brings plenty of experience with him to the ring.
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But before he made a name for himself professionally, he was one of the top amateur fighters in the world, as evidenced by his bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
And before he was a medalist in the Olympics, he was the gold medal winner in the 2005 Mianyang World Championships, in addition to gold medal finishes in the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games and 2007 Pan American Games.
He's significantly bigger than Pacquiao.
One of the major talking points surrounding the Spence-Pacquiao fight was the notable size difference between the two fighters.
Spence is listed as 5-foot-10 and 152 pounds, though his fighting weight is 147 pounds for the welterweight division. Ugás measures up similarly to Spence, standing at 5-foot-9, 4 inches taller than Pacquiao's listed height of 5-foot-5.
Ugás' reach is also 69 inches, compared to Pacquiao's 67-inch reach.
He owns a belt.
Ugás doesn't enter this bout with the same star power as Spence, which could lead some to believe this fight doesn't pack the same punch as the initial matchup.
But that wouldn't be entirely true.
Although Ugás doesn't have the name recognition, he does own a belt: the WBA (super) welterweight title, which he will defend against Pacquiao.
And who doesn't love a good title fight?
Ugás is coming in hot.
When taking a quick glance at Ugás' record, the four losses in 30 career fights might stand out initially, but the Cuban fighter has been on fire of late.
Ugás has won 11 of his past 12 fights, with the lone loss coming in 2019 to Shawn Porter in a fight for the WBC welterweight title.
Porter won via split decision.
Of those 11 recent wins, four came by TKO, and four came by unanimous decision.
He's difficult to put away.
Although he has four losses, Ugás has shown that he is not an easy fighter to beat. In fact, only one of his losses has come by unanimous decision: a 2014 loss to Amir Imam.
Ugás' other three losses have all come by split decision, and none has been by way of knockout.
While Pacquiao enters this fight as the favorite, with a legendary résumé in his back pocket, it won't be a walkover come Aug. 21.
Ugás has proven that much.
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