"El Azteca" Mario Barrios, of San Antonio, will likely be back in the ring this summer. July is being targeted for a showdown with former WBA champ Yordenis Ugas of Cuba. Ugas is coming off a 10th-round stoppage loss to Errol Spence of DeSoto last April at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Ugas-Barrios bout will be for the WBC interim title, meaning the winner would likely be slated to fight the WBC World Champion. That champion at the moment is Errol Spence of DeSoto.
Ugas is currently ranked number two by the WBC, while Barrios is ranked fifth by the same organization. Typically the bout would be between the two top-ranked fighters in the weight class. However, Keith Thurman is currently ranked one by the WBC and is still expected to fight Spence in a non-title fight at 154 pounds. However, nothing on that fight has been made official, and Spence is still negotiating with WBO champ Terence Crawford.
Alternatively, the winner of the Ugas-Barrios interim title bout could also be ordered to fight the winner of the other WBC eliminator between Cody Crowley and Abel Ramos. That bout is scheduled for next week on the Plant-Benavidez card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Barrios sports a record of 27-2 (18), and bounced back off of his two consecutive losses last month in very impressive fashion. He stopped Jovanie Santiago in the eighth round of a one-sided bout. It was his first camp with trainer Bob Santos. Barrios previously held a 140-pound title from 2019 to 2021.