Errol Spence Beats Up and Stops Ugas in Unification Bout. Wants Crawford Next!
Seeking to satisfy their individual desires to become undisputed, IBF and WBC welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KO’s) and Super WBA 147-pound champion Yordenis “54 Milagros” Ugas (27-5, 12 KO’s) took one big step toward that goal. They accomplished this by colliding in a high stakes, unification grudge match housed in the AT&T Stadium located in Arlington, Texas. Following twelve rounds of intelligent savagery and science based-cruelty, the Truth walked away a three-belt champion having dethroned Ugas by way of tenth round stoppage.
THE TRUTH
Spence Jr, 27, has actually found quite a bit of success in the belly of the Arlington Stadium, having boiled up three of his last four brawls there. Within those matches he fought and toppled Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia and now the crafty brute Ugas. In the Mikey Garcia bout, the unified champion established himself as a pay-per-view fighter and collected an easy high-profile scalp.
Spence added his name to modern boxing lore by essentially walking away from a car-accident that should have killed him. Instead of meeting his maker or walking the Earth for the remainder of his days a crumpled shell of himself, he returned to the ring against Danny Garcia in his very next fight. Once again, The Truth collected an easy unanimous decision.
In this bout with Ugas, there will be many who say that the Texas resident rolled the dice too quickly again. This is because, entering into the test of might with 54 Milagros, Errol Spence was coming off a retinal tear and subsequent eye surgery. Rather than subscribe to a “feel-out” fight, Spence remained true to his code of “no tune-ups” and hopped right back in the deep end. Looks like once again it paid off for him.
54 MILAGROS
Three years and five fights ago, Ugas suffered a heart-breaking split decision loss to Shawn Porter. The loss stood as the fourth defeat on his ledger. While it’s never a good thing to lose in any sports, there were a number of silver linings for the Cuban bruiser. To begin, a great number of fans and insiders believe that 54 Milagros had done more than enough to get the nod over the recently retired pugilist. This controversy, coupled with the level of attention given to the match shined a bright, beneficial light on Ugas.
He would go on to conquer Omar Figueroa, Mike Dallas Jr and Abel Ramos before taking on the biggest fight of his career. After clawing his way back into position, Ugas seized the unexpected opportunity to dance with boxing living legend Manny Pacquiao. Oddly enough, the only reason that he got that chance was because Spence had to bow out due to the aforementioned eye injury. It is unclear at this time what Ugas will do in his next move.
ONE-EYED JACK
Over the first two rounds there was no terribly memorable action but the tension was tangible. Spence took the lead as the fight aggressor, putting Ugas on his back foot behind his vigilant jab and storied body work. 54 Milagros was landing solid occasional counter-punches but had low volume to start. Ugas started the third fast but the unified champion was sure to launch a series of prolonged attacks throughout the remainder of the round to nullify that push. This mainly one-way action was made possible by Spence’s controlling of distance with his feet and angles.
After an equally favorable fourth, Spence established more separation in the fifth. For large stretches of the period, the Cuban performed as if he didn’t not know how to proceed. The Truth was enjoying another great round when Ugas nailed Spence with a right that sent his mouthpiece flying. Moments later, 54 Milagros caught Spence with a straight right that left him dizzily drifting toward the ropes. The hometown hero handled himself well and finished the rounds strong.
TOTAL DOMINANCE
In an excellent bounce back round in the seventh, Spence hurt Ugas with a right uppercut early in the period. Then he spent the remainder of the round chasing and pummeling a generally bewildered Ugas. To make matters worse, as a result of his “John Henry” hammering, 54 Milagros’ right eye was quickly swelling.
While his eye was swelling shut rapidly, referee Laurence Cole chose an odd point in round eight to have the ring doctor check the status of the inflammation. The bout, and beating, was green lit to continue. To his credit, in the closing moments of the ninth, a handful of hurtful right hands to the body slowed the aggression of Spence a great deal.
Once again in the tenth round, after his displayed clear distress when socked in his closed eye, referee Cole called in the ring doctor. This time, unable to even pretend to open the eye, the doctor recommended that the bout be stopped. Cole instantly co-signed and waved off the match. With the win, Spence now has the WBA Super, IBF and WBC welterweight titles. The only title left to collect is the WBO held by Terence “Bud” Crawford, who he energetically called out after the fight.
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By: Bakari Simpson
