By Kenneth Friedman: As expected, welterweight contender Yordenis Ugas (25-4, 12 KOs) was much too good for 12-year pro Mike Dallas Jr. (23-3-2, 11 KOs) in stopping him in round 7 on Saturday night in a mismatch on FS1 and Fox Deports from the Beau Rivage Resort Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
(Credit: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions)
Although the 33-year-old Dallas Jr. was competitive in the 7th round, his corner opted to pull the plug on the fight after the round had ended. Dallas wasn’t letting his hands go in the fight, and the reason was simple.
Ugas had Dallas gun-shy entire fight
When he would throw something, Ugas would answer back with a barrage of shots to the head and body. For Dallas’ sake, the best policy was for him to keep his guard up to try and block the incoming rather than take chances. Had Dallas been more aggressive, it likely would have hastened his ending much sooner.
He just didn’t have the punching power, speed or the talent to compete on an even playing field with the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Ugas. We saw what Ugas did to Porter in walking him down, and giving him all kinds of problems. Dallas was nowhere near as talented as Porter, so he was always going to have issues with Ugas.
The Cuban Ugas, 33, had gotten the better of Dallas Jr. through the majority of the fight, and it was clear that there was virtually no chance of the Bakersfield, California native being able to get himself back into the fight.
It was one of those fights where the bout was won the moment the contract was signed. Ugas is a special talent, and he was arguably robbed last year in his fight with Shawn Porter in losing a 12 round split decision in March 2019.
Yordenis not excited about his win
Ugas didn’t make a big deal out of his victory, seeing that he felt he could have done a better job.
“I’m not overly excited about my performance, but the most important thing was to get the victory and take a step closer to getting the title shot,” said Ugas. “The main goal now is to keep winning and fight for a title. I’m ready for all of the top welterweights.”
A rematch against Porter would be an ideal scenario for Ugas, but that’s next to impossible. Porter, 32, has shown no interest in wanting to fight Ugas after a second time after being him by a questionable decision last year.
Shawn is just looking to get fights against high profile fighters Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. Ugas isn’t in Porter’s plans at all, and likely will never be again unless the Cuban fighter can win a world title.
Where does Dallas go from here?
10 years ago, Dallas was a fighter on the rise, and there were some boxing fans that felt he had the ability to capture a world title. However, after consecutive losses to Mauricio Herrera and Josesito Lopez in 2011, Dallas’ career was never the same in terms of the hype. In January 2013, Dallas was crushed by Lucas Matthysse in a 1st round knockout.
After that defeat, Dallas was out of the ring for a couple of years before returning in 2015, and he won two fights against lower level opposition before fighting to a 10 round draw against Dusty Hernandez Harrison in 2016.
Dallas then took another two years off from boxing and then returned in 2018 to pick wins over Adan Gamboa and Moris Rodriguez. His 2-fight winning streak was halted tonight in his loss to Ugas. It’s unknown where Dallas goes from here. He’s a good fighter, but he’s not quite talented enough to defeat the top tier guys at 147, and he’s no longer the young guy he was a decade ago.
Michael Rivera tops Fidel Maldonado Jr
In other boxing results on the card, undefeated lightweight talent Michel Rivera (18-0, 12 KOs) defeated the experienced Fidel Maldonado Jr. (27-5-1, 20 KOs) by a stoppage in the 10th. In the 10th, Rivera caught Maldonado Jr. and knocked him down. The fight was then halted. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:40.