Boxing Results: Yordenis Ugas defeats Abel Ramos, wins vacant WBA 147-lb title

By Boxing News - 09/06/2020 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: Yordenis Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs) outboxed Abel Ramos (26-4-2, 20 KOs) in beating him by a 12 round split decision on Sunday night to win the vacant WBA ‘regular’ welterweight title at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

The scores were 115-113, 115-113 for the Ugas, and 117-111 for Ramos. Boxing News 24 had it 118-110 for Ugas. He was simply the better fighter in virtually every round of the fight.

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Yordenis outworked Ramos

It’s difficult to understand what the judge, Lou Moret, saw that motivated him to score the fight for Ramos 117-111. Ugas looked like the clear winner in the fight, but even if you went the other way, it would be close. 117-111 isn’t a close score.

This judge had Ramos dominating the fight, and that’s not what happened tonight. Did the judge have the two fighters mixed up in his mind? You’ve got to ask that when you see an oddball score like the one Moret turned in tonight.

If you gave every semi-close round to Ramos, then it’s understandable how the judge could come up with the 117-111 score in his favor. But barring that, it doesn’t make sense to have Ramos as the winner of the fight. The only way it makes sense is if the judge was confused about which fighter was Ramos.

Thankfully, the other two judges canceled out that one bad score to have Ugas as the winner. The last thing boxing needs right now during the pandemic is a controversial result. It’s important for the judges to mess up and drive away fans right now.

Ramos landed a big shot that got Ugas’ attention in the 12th round, but he wasn’t hurt. It was a big enough separation punch for the 29-year-old Ramos to get Ugas’ attention.

Ugas wilted a little bit in the second half of the fight, which resulted in Ramos rallying to win rounds that made it close in the end.

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The conditioning wasn’t there tonight for Ugas, as he looked tired in the last six rounds. He still appeared to win four of the six, but only because Ramos was unable to take advantage of the situation.

Ugas failed to step on the gas

The only criticism that one can give towards the 34-year-old Ugas is he wasn’t stepping up the pressure on Ramos the way he needed to dominate. Had Ugas put it on Ramos the way he did against Shawn Porter last year in March, he likely would have knocked him out.

Tonight, Ugas fought like his engine was stuck in first gear for the entire 12-round bout, which gave Ramos the chance to be competitive with him.

This wouldn’t have been a competitive contest had Ugas shown the same sense of urgency that he did against Porter, and in his wins over Jamal James, Ray Robinson, Thomas Dulorme, and Omar Figueroa.

The 12th round was easily the best of the fight for Ramos, who landed a scorching left hook that had knockout written all over it. He threw that shot literally from his ankles, and it landed with a crunch to the head of Ugas.

For Ugas to take that shot, it shows the kind of chin he has. A lot of fighters would have come apart after getting nailed with a similar punch.

Ramos waited too long

The real question is, why did Ramos wait so long for him to swing for the fences in the fight. He should have gone for a knockout a lot earlier in the fight because it was his only chance of winning.

He didn’t have the boxing ability to outbox Ugas, who was doing a number on him the entire bout.

“I came into this fight in the best shape of my life and it showed,” said Ugas. “Now that I’m a world champion, I want all the big names in the welterweight division.”

Ugas would like to take on the popular fighters at 147 like Manny Pacquiao, Keith Thurman, Errol Spence Jr, Danny Garcia, and Terence Crawford. However, the secondary WBA title that Ugas captured on Sunday night isn’t the right bait for him to get a fight against one of those famous fighters.

WBA regular title is pretty much the equivalent of an interim belt, and it’s not considered the one that fans care about.

Ugas is likely going to be ignored by the top dogs at 147, and there’s nothing he can do about that. His best bet to eventually get the likes of Thurman, Spence, and Crawford to fight him is to keep winning.

At 34, Ugas hasn’t got much more time before he ages out and is too old to continue to fight at a high level.

“I set a goal when I was a child back in Cuba to become a world champion and I accomplished that goal tonight,” said Ugas

Undercard results for Ugas vs. Ramos

Omar Juarez decisions Dakota Linger

Undefeated light welterweight Omar “El Relámpago” Juárez (9-0, 4 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a one-sided eight-round unanimous decision over the capable Dakota Linger (12-4-2, 8 KOs). The scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73. Boxing News 24 had it for Juarez 79-73.

Jesus Ramos crushes Esteban Garcia

Unbeaten light-welterweight Jesus Ramos (13-0, 12 KOs) beat previously undefeated Esteban Garcia (14-1, 6 KOs) by a second-round knockout. In the second, Ramos unloaded everything but the kitchen sink on the hapless Garcia, resulting in the referee stepping in the halt the bout. The time of the stoppage was at 2;45 of round two.

Image: Boxing Results: Yordenis Ugas defeats Abel Ramos, wins vacant WBA 147-lb title

Cody Crowley blanks Josh Torres

In an impressive display of raw boxing skills, unbeaten welterweight Cody Crowley (19-0, 9 KOs) beat Josh Torres (22-7-2, 13 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 100-90.

Batyr Akhmedov destroys Rey Perez

Light welterweight prospect Batyr Akhmedov (8-1, 7 KOs) stopped Rey Perez (24-12, 8 KOs) by a first-round knockout. The time of the stoppage was at 2:19 of round one. Akhmedov competed in the 2016 Olympics.

Leduan Barthelemy KOs Recky Dulay

The highly skilled Leduan Barthelemy (16-1-1, 8 KOs) beat journeyman Recky Dulay (11-9, 8 KOs) by a third-round knockout. Barthelemy put Dulay down three times in the contest before it was stopped at 2:39 of the third round.