Tag Archives: Shawn Porter

WBO Orders Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford to Fight Alexis Rocha in Mandatory Defense Bout

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Alexis “Lex” Rocha will have get his title chance…

The WBO has ordered its welterweight champion, Terence Crawford, to start negotiations for a mandatory defense against the 25-year-old Latino boxer, who is ranked No. 3 by the organization.

Alexis Rocha,In a letter sent to both sides Monday, the WBO stated that the parties have 20 days to “reach an agreement” for the bout. If no agreement is reached, the fight will go to a purse bid.

“Terence Crawford’s mandatory defense window has expired, he needs to do his mandatory [fight], since he hasn’t done one since he fought against Shawn Porter [in November 2021]. Crawford fought [David] Avanesyan, but that wasn’t a mandatory defense,” Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, the WBO president, told ESPN on Tuesday.

Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs), a promotional free agent after leaving Top Rank when his contract expired following the Porter fight, defeated Avanesyan by sixth-round KO on December 10. Crawford has fought only two times since he defeated Kell Brook by fourth-round TKO in November 2020.

Rocha (22-1, 14 KOs), promoted by Oscar De La Hoya‘s Golden Boy, stopped George Ashie in the seventh round on January 28. He has accumulated six straight victories — four by stoppage — since suffering the only defeat of his career, a unanimous decision to Rashidi Ellis in October 2020. His best win was a ninth-round KO victory over then undefeated Blair Cobbs in March 2022.

With Vergil Ortiz Jr., the WBO No. 1 challenger, scheduled to face Eimantas Stanionis on April 29, and Keith Thurman, No. 2, attached to a possible fight against unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. at junior middleweight, Rocha was the next opponent in line for Crawford.

“Rocha is our NABO champion and he’s a great fighter. Don’t believe for a second that he’s a soft opponent [for Crawford],” Valcarcel said. “People talk, but Rocha is a tremendous fighter, he’s young and he’s learning fast. Crawford is a super-gifted athlete, but in boxing nothing is written in stone.”

Crawford and Spence have been circling for years to fight for the undisputed championship — one of the best and biggest fights boxing can offer — but that mega-event never materialized and with Spence moving up in weight, chances are, we won’t see Crawford-Spence anytime soon.

ESPN was unable to obtain a comment from either Golden Boy or Crawford on Tuesday morning.

Yordenis Ugas to Face Errol Spence in Welterweight Three-Belt Unification Bout

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It’s official… Yordenis Ugas is readying for a three-belt unification bout…

The 35-year-old Cuban professional boxer, who has held the WBA welterweight title since January 2021, and Errol Spence will unify welterweight titles on April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Spence announced on social media.

Yordenis Ugas,The bout will be Spence’s third at the home of the Dallas Cowboys; he defeated Mikey Garcia and Danny Garcia (no relation) at the venue in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The deal was being finalized in December, as previously reported, but the fight wasn’t announced until two months later as Premier Boxing Champions officials sought to lock in a date and venue.

Spence, who will put his WBC and IBF titles on the line, will be making his second comeback from serious injury. The 31-year-old boxer was involved in a single-car accident in October 2019 that hospitalized him for days and sidelined him for months. A planned August 2021 fight with Manny Pacquiao was derailed after he underwent surgery to repair a detached retina.

Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) stepped in on 11 days’ notice and scored the upset of Pacquiao via unanimous decision. Now, Ugas will defend his WBA title in a three-belt unification.

The 35-year-old Cuban and Spence have one common opponent: Shawn Porter. Spence defeated Porter in a brutal September 2019 fight via split decision. Six months earlier, Ugas dropped a controversial split-decision to Porter.

Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) is rated No. 2 at 147 pounds by ESPN; Ugas is one spot behind. Terence Crawford, who holds the other welterweight title, is No. 1.

A fight between the winner of Spence-Ugas and Crawford would crown an undisputed welterweight champion, but there remains a roadblock. Eimantas Stanionis stepped aside from his mandatory title shot against Ugas to allow him to fight Spence. Stanionsis will fight Radzhab Butaev on the undercard, sources told ESPN. Both are rated in ESPN’s top 10 at welterweight.

Yordenis Ugas Outpoints Abel Ramos to Win WBA Welterweight Title

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Yordenis Ugas is a champion…

The 34-year-old Cuban boxer captured a version of the WBA welterweight title by outlasting Abel Ramos over 12 clinical rounds at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Yordenis Ugas

While it seemed like Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs) dominated most of the fight behind his long left jab, the fight was actually a split decision.

Zachary Young and Edward Hernandez had him up by the score of 115-113, while Lou Moret had Ramos on top, 117-111.

Regardless, this was a strong showing from Ugas, who boxed well from the outside in the early rounds. Then in the fourth, he began to plant his feet and started to control the center of the ring, almost daring Ramos to come toward him. But throughout the night, the rapier-like jab of Ugas kept him from ever really committing to a sustained offensive attack.

Ugas isn’t generally known as an aggressive fighter, but on this night, he was in command and for the most part initiating the action. Along with his steady jab, Ugas would throw long right hands and the occasional left hook to the body, consistently out-working Ramos (26-4-2, 20 KOs) round after round.

In his last outing back on February 15, Ramos made a miraculous comeback in scoring a last-second knockout of Bryant Perella while he was down big on the cards. On Sunday night, he was able to clip Ugas in the late stages of the 12th, staggering him for a quick spell. But it was far too little, far too late.

Ugas out-landed Ramos 233 to 109 in terms of total punches, 160 of them being the jab, which set the table for him all night.

Despite what the scorecards showed, this was a dominant outing for Ugas, who last year was on the wrong side of a disputed decision versus Shawn Porter for the WBC welterweight title.

Ugas, who is rated seventh in the ESPN rankings at welterweight, has won 11 out of 12 bouts since dropping back-to-back bouts in 2014.

Danny Garcia Has Reportedly Agreed to Fight Errol Spence Jr. This Fall

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Danny Garcia has lined up his next opponent…

The 32-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, the former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist, has agreed to fight unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in a fall pay-per-view event, according to ESPN.

Danny Garcia

The bout — which needs a negotiation of final contract numbers — is expected to take place in November at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, according to sources. 

But, Premier Boxing Champions, which promotes both fighters, has put holds on other venues around the country as it monitors the coronavirus pandemic and the guidelines in place for each state.

The Athletic first reported the agreement.

Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) was a unified champion at junior welterweight and a world titlist at welterweight. In his most recent fight in January, Garcia outpointed Ivan Redkach over 12 rounds.

Spence defeated Shawn Porter by 12-round split decision on September 28 in a tough fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Spence, who came into the bout as the IBF titlist, earned the WBC belt with the win. He was involved in a horrific one-car accident a few weeks later near Dallas, Texas, and suffered serious injuries, including facial lacerations and a broken jaw.

Before the accident, there was talk of Spence facing Garcia in late January 2020.

Spence is ranked No. 1 at welterweight in ESPN‘s divisional rankings, and Garcia is No. 6. Manny Pacquiao (WBA) and Terence Crawford (WBO) are the other titleholders in the division.