Yordenis Ugás
Yordenis Ugás Hernández (born 14 July 1986) is a Cuban professional boxer who has held the WBA (Super) welterweight title from January 2021 to April 2022, having previously held the WBA (Regular) title from 2020 until being elevated to Super champion. He also challenged for the WBC welterweight title in 2019. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 2005 World Championships and bronze at the 2008 Olympics, both in the lightweight division. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's third-best active welterweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, "The Ring  magazine and BoxRec. He is also ranked as the eighth-best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec. Ugas' nickname, 54 Milagros, comes from two people: 54" refers to baseball player Aroldis Chapman who wears the number 54, and is Ugas' best friend; "Milagros" is the name of Ugas' mother. Amateur career. Ugás was U17 (cadets) world champion in 2003 but lost at the junior championships in 2004 to Amir Khan. On other occasions he lost twice to countryman Luis Franco at featherweight, he finished third at the nationals 2004 at featherweight. In 2005 he moved up to lightweight where  he was more successful, winning the Cuban Championships from 2005 to 2008 and turning into a star. He won a tournament called PanAm Championships (not the PanAm Games) in 2005, however in other tournaments he lost twice to Kazach southpaw Serik Sapiyev. At the Senior World Championships 2005 he suffered two heavy knockdowns against Canadian southpaw Ibrahim Kamal in his third fight but managed to win. The Manila Times writes: "But for two fleeting moments Thursday, unheralded Canadian lightweight Ibrahim Kamal showed the world that the Cubans, arguably the number-one force in amateur boxing, may have jaws of glass  after all. The University of Toronto student knocked down Yordanis Ugás in the first and second rounds with two sledgehammer lefts to the side of the chin. But then the Canadian southpaw hurt one knee as he and Ugás wrestled each other to the floor on the third round, leaving him effectively fighting on one leg." Later Ugás beat Russian Khabib Allakhverdiyev and in the final he outfought Romal Amanov from Azerbaijan. Cubanet.org writes "Yordenis Ugás, a sharp, technically accomplished fighter but with a suspect jaw, won the lightweight gold for Cuba after an explosive toe-to-toe clash with  Romal Amanov of Azerbaijan." It describes him as "a tall, bony lightweight with a deceptively languid fighting style." In 2006 he won the Central American Championships. He was part of the Cuban national team that won the 2006 Boxing World Cup. In 2007 he beat Yordan Frometa and Roniel Iglesias at the national championships. Later that year Ugás won the PanAm Games in Rio beating Darleys Pérez and Everton Lopes. Cuba didn't participate in the World Championships in Chicago. In 2008 he defended the national championships against old foe Luis Franco and won his Olympic qualifier. In Beijing he  was upset in the semifinal by Frenchman Daouda Sow. In 2009 he went up to junior welterweight beating Roniel Iglesias in the national final. In March 2010, Ugás moved to the United States in the hope of beginning a professional career. On July 9, 2010, he made his pro debut. Ugás moved to North Bergen, New Jersey in 2012. Professional career. Early career. On 9 March 2019, Ugás fought his first career title fight against Shawn Porter for the World Boxing Council|WBC welterweight title. Ugás fought great and landed the cleaner shots throughout the fight. Porter had some success with  his jab in the fourth round, but Ugás was the better man in the following round, after both fighters exchanged shots in the middle of the ring towards the end of the fifth. Ugás also had a stronger finish to the fight, and managed to cut Porter near his left eye in the tenth. After the final bell rang, Ugás' team already started celebrating, while Porter just stood and looked at his corner. To many of the fans' surprise, two of the judges scored the fight in favor of Porter, 116-112 and 115–113, while only one of the judges  scored the fight in favor of Ugás, 117–111. The crowd was booing what seemed to many as a controversial split decision win for Porter. In his next fight, Ugás dominated former world champion Omar Figueroa Jr.|Omar Figueroa to a unanimous decision win, winning every round in the process. All three judges scored the fight 119-107 for the Cuban, who only had one point deducted for holding in the fifth round. In his following fight, Ugás fought Mike Dallas Jr.|Mike Dallas Jr . Ugás boxed well and managed to hurt Dallas Jr on multiple occasions. After the seventh round, Dallas Jr 's corner had seen enough and informed the referee he would not be continuing the fight. WBA welterweight champion. Ugás vs. Ramos. On 6 September 2020, Ugás fought Abel Ramos for the vacant WBA (Regular) welterweight title. Ugás outboxed Ramos, dominating most of the rounds throughout the fight. This earned Ugás a split decision victory, with one judge scoring the fight 117-111 for Ramos, while the other two had it narrowly for Ugás, both scoring it 115–113. Ugás vs. Pacquiao. On January 29, 2021, Ugás was elevated to the status of WBA (Super) champion after the previous title-holder , Octuple champion|eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao , was stripped of his title due to inactivity. The latter had been scheduled to face undefeated WBC and International Boxing Federation|IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. on 21 August 2021 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, until Spence had to withdraw due to suffering an injury to his left eye. Subsequently, Ugás took Spence's place, and made the first defense of his WBA (Super) title against Pacquiao. The bout was a competitive affair, with Ugás using his jab and looping right hand effectively to control the distance. While Pacquiao had moments of  success throughout the night, he never truly settled into a rhythm and was noticeably stiffer than usual, not showcasing the deft footwork that he has been known for throughout his career. Pacquiao himself admitted after the fight that his legs were "tight". At the final bell, Ugás was awarded a unanimous decision victory with scores of 116–112, 116-112 and 115–113. According to CompuBox , Pacquiao threw over double the number of punches compared to Ugás, but landed fewer, making the latter the far more accurate boxer on the night. Pacquiao landed 130 punches of 815 thrown (16%), while Ugás landed  151 punches of 405 thrown (37.3%). Ugás vs. Spence Jr.. After successfully defending his title against Pacquiao, Ugás petitioned the WBA for a special permit to bypass a mandatory defense against Eimantas Stanionis in order to face the IBF and WBC champion Errol Spence Jr. in a title unification bout. The petition was denied by the WBA on October 20, 2021, who stated: "...we are in special circumstances to resolve extraordinary situations, such as the champion reduction in every division to have only one champion". Accordingly, Ugás and Stanionis were given a 30-day period to negotiate the terms of  their bout. As they were unable to come to terms, a purse bid was ordered for December 9, with a minimal bid of $200,000. The winning bid would be split 75/25 in favor of Ugas as the reigning titlist. On December 19, 2021, WBA President Gilberto J. Mendoza has confirmed that the Spence-Ugas was approved as Stanionis was willing to step aside. The unification bout was officially announced on February 8, 2022. It was scheduled to headline a pay per view card on April 16, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas . The PPV was  distributed by Showtime (TV network)|Showtime . Ugás lost the fight by a tenth-round technical knockout. The fight was stopped on the advice of the ringside physician, due to Ugas’ severely swollen right eye. He was losing on all three of the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with scores of 88–82, 88–82 and 88–83. Ugás landed fewer total punches (216 to 96) and fewer power punches (192 to 77) than Spence Jr. External links. Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Santiago de Cuba Category:Boxers at the 2007 Pan American Games Category:Boxers at the 2008  Summer Olympics Category:Olympic boxers of Cuba Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Cuba Category:Olympic medalists in boxing Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:People from North Bergen, New Jersey Category:Cuban male boxers Category:AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Category:Pan American Games medalists in boxing Category:Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Category:Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Category:Lightweight boxers Category:Light-welterweight boxers Category:Welterweight boxers Category:Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing Category:World Boxing Association  champions Category:Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games