Yordenis Ugas is preparing to defend his WBA Welterweight Championship for the first time in 2022, but he may not be fighting the boxer who he had hoped to fight.
After defeating Manny Pacquiao in August, Ugas began pursuing a unification title bout at 147 pounds. Specifically, he asked to fight fellow welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. on a FOX PPV card. Unfortunately, the World Boxing Association has been pushing for Ugas to defend his title against a challenger of their choosing.
“Tomorrow the WBA is going to make a decision on my team’s last attempt to lead me to the best fights possible and one of the biggest fight[s] that PBC can do [at] 147. Now, I want to unify or fight the best,” Ugas tweeted.
It appears that WBA President Gilberto Mendoza has ruled against Ugas’ wishes and ordered him to defend his title in a far less lucrative fight against Eimantas Stanionis during the first half of the year. The title fight is one half of a larger four man tournament put together by the WBA. Radzhab Butaev stopped Jamal James on the other end of the bracket in January. Now, Butaev is in line to fight the winner of Stanionis-Ugas in 2022.
It is unclear when or where Ugas-Stanionis will take place, but ESPN‘s Mike Coppinger has reported that a deal has been worked out an details will be revealed shortly.
