Ugas victory over Manny
Sometimes, the best thing for a narrative is a little interruption.
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, one could argue that Yordenis Ugas didn’t just play a plan-breaking role. He provided an intervention.
Had the odds played out accordingly and Manny Pacquiao had beaten Ugas to regain the World Boxing Association (WBA) “super” welterweight title, it would have put the 147-pound stable fighting under Premier Boxing Champions in a real situation.
While Al Haymon has been successful in diverting his well-promoted welterweight group to other companies (such as Top Rank and Terence Crawford), it was clear that a gulf had formed between Errol Spence Jr. and the rest of his counterparts. But when Ugas stepped in to face Pacquiao after Spence pulled out with an eye injury and proceeded to beat Pacquiao in a resounding unanimous decision, it sparked new intrigue in a division with many familiar players.
What Ugas did was give the PBC welterweight division a much-needed reboot and set up a potentially intriguing series of matchups, as Spence’s future remains unknown. Ugas went from being a household name among boxing fans to a genuine champion with his victory over Pacquiao.
“I told you I’m the WBA champion, and I proved it tonight,” said Ugas in his post-fight interview.
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) certainly accomplished that in front of a crowd that was mostly there to see Pacquiao win in his 72nd and potentially final professional fight. Ugas used an imposing double jab and a huge advantage in size, reach and youth to overcome one of boxing’s most legendary fighters.
Since Haymon and the PBC have attempted to dominate the division where Haymon resembles an overzealous crossing guard trying to cross the street, the welterweights on the promotional team have become stars. Spence, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia became major draws that demanded big paydays and created legitimate intrigue over who was the best among the bunch.
But eventually the aforementioned split occurred. Spence ran through opponents to remain undefeated. Others traded wins and losses. And over time, it became clear that Spence and Crawford were in a unique class in the division, and the cold war between them was the most fascinating part of it all.
When the Spence-Pacquiao fight was announced, it felt similar to the Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya fight in 2008. Pacquiao demolished De La Hoya and used him as a slingshot to become one of the biggest names in the sport. Spence’s opportunity to do the same was immediately halted when he suffered a right eye injury that required emergency surgery and forced him to pull out of a mega fight he had wanted for years.
Had Spence fought and won, the options for him and the PBC at welterweight would have been limited. But with Ugas, a good but flawed fighter, Haymon can essentially start from scratch with Spence’s unknown future. For example, if Porter and Crawford meet the World Boxing Organization (WBO) mandate for a fight, no matter what, Ugas can face Porter in a rematch of their 2019 fight, which Porter won.
Crawford is also the main wild card in this situation. His contract with Top Rank will expire at the end of this year. If he joins PBC and gets the quality fights he lacked while on Top Rank’s roster, he could also be positioned to create a new round-robin of PBC fighters. Any combination of these scenarios could allow PBC to continue its reign at 147 pounds for a while longer.
Also of note, the two most promising fighters are not in the PBC stable. Undefeated 23-year-old Vergil Ortiz, who has won all 18 of his fights by knockout, is signed with Golden Boy Promotions. Jaron “Boots” Ennis (27-0, 25 KOs) is signed with D&D Boxing.
Eventually, PBC welterweights will have to reckon with Ortiz and Ennis while they are making the weight limit. But after Ugas’ win, things on the PBC street side are shaping up to be as entertaining as they have been in years.
