Barrios Likely To Face Ugas This Summer

"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.

No Sweat Spence and Ugas on Weight

No Sweat Spence-Ugas are on Weight

We've got ourselves a fight WBC/IBF Welterweight kingpin Errol "The Truth" Spence of Desoto, and WBA crown holder Yordenis Ugas from Miami, Florida by way of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, both easily made weight ahead of Saturday's unification fight that takes place at World AT&T stadium. The fight will unify three-quarters of the welterweight gold with just the WBO belt outstanding which is held by Terence Crawford and has been since 2018.

The weight went smoothly no major outbursts, no major trash talking, no pushing or shoving just two, toned and calmed professionals who take care of business made weight and faced off, and appear in outstanding shape. The fight will be aired on Showtime PPV and PPV.com for the price of $74.99 and starts at 8PM CST.

The South Dallas native will enter the fight a massive betting favorite. Errol Spence Jr he will be a -450 favorite while Ugas will enter the ring roughly at +350. Meaning a $100 bet on Ugas to win will make you $350 and it will take a $450 bet to make $100. The oddsmakers are extremely confident that Spence will unify the belts and pick up the victory in front of his home crowd tomorrow night. Spence repeated that confidence saying “I’m the best in the division. I’m making a statement come Saturday night. I want the knockout. I’m gonna get the knockout. I’m gonna get his belt and after that, it’s time to be undisputed champion of the world and I’m going after (WBO titleholder) Terence Crawford after I get through Ugas.”

Suggesting that a long-awaited Spence-Crawford showdown could be realistic for later in 2022. It has long been one of if not the most demanded fight on boxing since 2018. A fight Spence appears to want. saying “It’s something that I’m definitely looking forward to and it’s something that I’m willing to work towards,” Spence said. “After I get past Ugas, it could be an easy fight to make. It just depends on stipulations between me and him. I’ll bend but I’m not going to break. I’ll take off my coat but I’m not going to give it to you. So, I think it could happen and I’m looking forward to that fight. I think it’s a legacy fight for him and myself.”

Spence to return home; takes on Ugas

The long-running rumor is indeed true. WBC & IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. and WBA kingpin Yordenis Ugas will unify three-quarters of the 147-pound gold in Spence's backyard, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, on April 16th. Spence hails from DeSoto in Dallas County. The unbeaten Spence,27-0 (21) confirmed the fight and location through his various social media accounts. Spence's last fought at AT&T Stadium was three-years-ago and unanimously outpointed Mikey Garcia in front of nearly 50,000 fans.

In the last three years, Spence has battled major outside the ring issues including a horrific car crash and a detached retina. He has fought just twice since that Garcia fight. He outpointed two former world champions in Shawn Porter and most recently Danny Garcia back in December of 2020.

Yordenis Ugas put the welterweight division and the boxing world on notice when he retired the legendary eight-division world champion, Manny Pacquiao, back in August. He was scheduled to fight on the undercard of Pacquiao-Spence, but when the Texan had to pull out of the fight due to the retina issue, Ugas stepped in and scored a career-changing 12 round unanimous decision. Ugas sports a 27-4 (12) record and has won four in a row since losing a controversial split decision to Shawn Porter back in 2019 including a win over Brownsville native Omar Figueroa a former world champion.

Spence has since recovered from the retina injury and was cleared to return to the boxing activity in late in 2021. He has had a full recovery. The 12-round, 147-pound unification bout will headline a four-fight pay-per-view event that either FOX or Showtime will air. Fight night is officially less than 10 weeks away.

Spence out of Pacquiao Fight with Detached Retina

The highly anticpated showdeon between IBF/WBC unified welterweight champ Errol "The Truth" Spence of Desoto, and legendary eight-divison world champ Manny Pacquiao is offically off. The Texan was forced to pull out with detached retina. A detached retina or retianl detachment is "an emergency situation in which a thin layer of tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from its normal position. Retinal detachment separates the retinal cells from the layer of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nourishment. The longer retinal detachment goes untreated, the greater your risk of permanent vision loss in the affected eye." according to the Mayo Clinic. Typical recovery time is 2-4 weeks according to multiple medical sources. Spence, 31, said on Twitter that he has seen three different doctors and all have said the same thing.

The fight was scheduled for Saturday, August 21, at the T-Mobile Arena and is still going off. Spence we be replaced by WBA champion Yordenis Ugas. Ugas (26-4) is a quality replacement and has won three consecutive fights since a close and very controversial decision loss to Shawn Porter in 2019. He was upgraded from "Regular champ" to "Super Champ" due to the extreme inactivity of Manny Pacquiao or won the super designation from Keith Thurman in July of 2019 but has not fought since. Back in January Pacquiao was designated as "champion in recess" by the sanctioning body.

Spence, took to Twitter and said "I came back from worse" perhaps referring to a horrific car wreck he suffered back in the fall of 2019. Spence has fought just once since the accident a 12-round unanimous decision victory against former two-division world champ Danny Garcia. Pacquiao responded on Twitter saying " I pray for a full and complete recovery for @ErrolSpenceJr"