SPORTS SHORTS 249: YORDENIS UGAS STRIKES AT WBA ONCE AGAIN
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 28 Oct 2021
WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas continued his tirades against the boxing governing body's order for him to join in a mini-tournament by the World Boxing Association.
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Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) wants a unification match with WBC/IBF champion Errol Spence early next year, but the WBA has ordered the Cuban champ to fight a mandatory defense against Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis. The winner of the bout will clash with the winner of the fight between WBA (Regular) champion Jamal James and Radzhab Butaev.
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Ugas tried to appeal the WBA's decision, but the order for a mandatory defense remains as is. His last fight on August 21 was a career defining moment with a twelve round unanimous decision win over future Hall of Famer and the former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao.
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“The WBA, in a senseless act, is sending me to a tournament to define a [sole] champion. It is a lack of respect. I am the super champion. I beat Jamal James. I just beat Manny Pacquiao," Ugas told George Ebro.
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He added that the action of the WBA "does not make sense" as he suggests that they should do it in all of the divisions then. In boxing history, no WBA super champion has ever had a mandatory fight, recalled Ugas.
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"We signed [a contract to fight Spence] for February 2022 to unify three championships, which would have been perfect, because it would be very close to the fight between Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter."
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With the arrangement there could even be an undisputed champion at welterweight division with the winners facing each other.
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“A fight with Staniones doesn't make any sense. A fighter who has miraculously gotten there [to the mandatory spot] with 13 fights. His most significant victory has been with Dulorme, whom I beat long ago," criticized Ugas.
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“Spence and I would have been a great fight. Spence is the favorite, but everyone knows that I am a good fighter, a warrior, who leaves everything in the ring. The best welterweight fight would be Crawford vs Spence, but with me nothing would be easy, so this is a pointless act [by the WBA] with me."
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He divulged that his team sent documents to the WBA to request a special permit for the Spence fight, but a hearing was called and it was there that he realized that "something was wrong, that the decision had already been made."
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"Gilberto Mendoza was not at the hearing. He is a man without word and without honor. The president of the WBA is a man without words and without honor, I say it and I will put it wherever I want."
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"He told me on the phone, 'Ugas, I want the best fights for you, if you fight a rematch with Pacquiao, if you fight to unify with Spence, there will be no mandatory. Those are the fights I want for you.'"
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Ugas said that when he went to see him in Medellin in Colombia, he never showed his face, nor did he respond to his message. "This is a very difficult [decision]. I can not tell you [what will happen]. We are almost certainly not going to fight Stanionis."
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"Let's see what happens. Everyone knows me, I am a humble, respectful fighter. I am not afraid, I am a warrior. I am a public enemy of the country where I was born. I cannot go to see my family because I am on the side of the truth, of the rights of my people."
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"For something personal, expect nothing less from me. This is a war that I am going to wage and it will not be easy for them. To leave my championship would not be an easy decision, even if Spence tells me that he has two titles and puts them at stake. It is not easy and I have my voice that weighs a lot."
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"I have a pretty strong team, but I think nothing will happen with the WBA. There is something there that we do not know [about]. I do know, but I don't want to say it because I don't have proof, but with the WBA there is no solution."
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WBA (regular) welterweight champion Jamal James will defend his title against Radzhab Butaev of Russia this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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But James wants more than a win in that fight, and that includes a rematch against the only fighter who has ever defeated him as a professional, the WBA (Super) welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas.
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“Jamal James has battled his way to the highest levels of the welterweight division,” said Tom Brown, president of TGB Promotions as quoted by Birmingham Times. “Jamal will get one step closer to gathering elite status if he can overcome the unbeaten Radzhab Butaev.”
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James has knocked out two opponents among his seven straight victories at the welterweight division, a streak that includes winning the WBA interim title by unanimous decision over Thomas Dulorme in his last fight in August 8, 2020at the Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S. He was later prompted to regular champion.
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Ugas has been declared “super" champion by the WBA, which has mandated a defense of his crown against Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs), with the winner to face the victor of James-Butaev in March 2022.
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The WBA passed this resolution last month as a way of reducing its number of champions to just one from its current total titlists of three per weight class, the super, regular and interim champions.
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“The WBA should really just have one title for all of their weight classes instead of having multiple champions per weight class where it’s like, ‘Who’s the real champion?’” James said.
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“Since Ugas is the super champion, and I’m the regular champion, I feel that as the regular champion I should be the first one to have that opportunity to fight him.”
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“When we did fight, it was on short notice, and it was still a competitive fight that went the distance. I would like to see what would happen if we both had full camps,” James said as quoted by Birmingham Times.
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James would very much appreciate a rematch with Ugas, especially after he beat Manny Pacquiao. But he knows Radzhab Butaev wants his welterweight title. He is taking Butaev very seriously. If God wills that he wins, he can arrange a match with Ugas or any of the other big names in the division.
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After their latest win against the OKC Thunder, the Golden State Warriors are now 4-0 on the ongoing NBA season, one of only two teams in the league who are still undefeated. The Warriors were mostly inconsequential over the past seasons, the new look is an utter contrast to the Warriors who slipped after creating a dynasty.
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Stephen Curry, this early is looking like an MVP candidate with great averages of 31 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists on 43.3% shooting from three point territory. His amazing play lifts the Warriors' victories. But the fans are waiting for Klay Thompson. If he regains the acts he did in 2019, it could mean another championship stint.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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