Errol Spence Jr. looked in tip-top shape on Friday, weighing in at 146 1/4 pounds at the weigh-in for Saturday’s welterweight unification fight against the upset-minded WBA champion Yordenis Ugas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) weighed in at 146 3/4 lbs and looked in great shape as always for the Cuban talent.
Showtime PPV will be televising the Spence-Ugas fight, and the undercard is loaded with outstanding fights from top to bottom.
Surprisingly, the interest from boxing fans in the Spence vs. Ugas contest isn’t as high as originally thought.
It could be that not enough casual fans are familiar with the 35-year-old Ugas despite his recent upset win over Manny Pacquiao last August.
Before that fight, Ugas was an unknown as far as casual boxing fans go. Obviously, the hardcore fans knew of Ugas, but not enough casuals did, and that hasn’t changed.
If not for Spence wanting/needing Ugas’ WBA belt to add to his collection of titles at 147, he would have been better off going in the direction of a Keith Thurman, Jaron Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr. or Terence Crawford fight.
“In the first day of training camp, he’d already been in the gym sparring,” said trainer Derrick James to Fight Hub TV about Errol Spence Jr. for his camp to prepare for Yordenis Ugas.
This is Spence’s second fight since his car crash in October 2019, and he’s expected to be a lot stronger than he was for his match against Danny Garcia in December 2020.
“So once he picked it up, he was already fresh and already going. I think it could possibly happen because of his viciousness,” said Derrick when asked if a knockout is possible for Spence on Saturday.
Unified 👑 gets crowned tomorrow 😬@ErrolSpenceJr @YordenisUgas | Order #SpenceUgas: https://t.co/mIiYdmufbG pic.twitter.com/OViXcIToua
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 15, 2022
“If he goes in there and does what he did in the gym, I just can’t see it any other way. I think he is because he’s a very skillful fighter, he’s a phenomenal counter puncher, he’s a guy that tries to set you up, he’s very sneaky, very cunning,” said James when asked if Yordenis is the biggest challenge of Errol’s career.
“You have to be intelligent and in tune with everything he’s doing as opposed to what you want to do because what you want to do may not be what he may present. You have to react to what he’s doing to you and take what he’s giving you.
“I think momentum changes from one shot. You can have momentum, but one big shot can change the whole fight. One big shot from Errol. Ugas has 12 knockouts, so does have knockout power, but I think Errol’s physicality and desire to be great will change a lot of things,” said James.
