By Huck Allen: Shawn Porter says IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr. has a slight power advantage over WBA champion Yordenis Ugas.
Spence and Ugas will be meeting in a three-belt unification in the first quarter of 2022 on pay-per-view. The fight winner will likely try and negotiate a match against WBO champion Terence Crawford for the undisputed 147-lb championship.
Porter has fought both Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) and Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), and he had many problems with both.
Indeed, Spence Jr. beat Porter, whereas Ugas fought well enough to deserve a comprehensive victory but found himself on the receiving end of an old-fashioned controversial decision in 2019.
Porter was the A-side against Ugas, explaining why his hand was raised. Although Porter was never hurt in the fight, he had enough respect for Ugas’ power to stay on his bike the entire 12 rounds.
For fans that have seen Porter’s past fights, it looked strange to see him backpedaling the entire night against Ugas.
Porter picks Spence over Ugas
Shawn is going with the exact pick in selecting unbeaten IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) to defeat Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs).
On paper, it would seem like an obvious pick to go with Spence over Ugas because he’s got the power, youth, size, and experience advantage.
“I think Errol wins, and I’m curious now,” said Shawn Porter, picking Spence to beat Ugas on his Porter Way Podcast. “At one point in time, I knew exactly what Yordenis Ugas was going to do, and I could tell you what was going to happen.
“He really did, I thought, he not only grew in the moment in that fight with Manny Pacquiao [in August 2021], but I think he learned some things about himself as well.
“A lot like the experience when I was talking about Canelo when we first started talking about how he’ll be prepared to come to the ring and do whatever he has to do and whatever style he’s got to use.
“I think Yordenis now is at a point where he’s prepared to make any adjustments he has to make to beat whoever is across from him, and I’m actually convinced he may find a way to beat Errol Spence Jr,” said Porter.
“So, I think it’s a fight that Errol wins, but more than anything, I want to see what Yordenis Ugas does. The other interesting thing, too, is I don’t know what Yordenis Ugas is coming to the ring, and I don’t know what Errol Spence Jr. is coming to the ring. That’s crazy,” Porter said.
Spence has more power than Yordenis
Porter rates Spence’s power as being a little better than Yordenis’s, but here’s the thing. When Ugas loads up on his shots, his power improves and makes him dangerous.
In contrast, Spence doesn’t have to load up on his shots to get a lot of power on his punches, so it’s easier for him.
“I would say Errol has got more power,” said Porter in rating Spence’s power as superior to that of Ugas. “One of them put me down.
“I would say that Errol has more power. I think with Yordenis, at least when we fought, strengthened. He [Ugas] fights with more power and more strength,” said Porter about Yordenis doing an excellent job of loading up on his shots to get the maximum amount of energy into his punches.
“I think he’s got that about him. Errol, his power is a little bit more natural where he doesn’t have to force it, but he’s just got natural power in both hands, really,” said Porter in rating Spence’s power above Ugas.
It’s unlikely that Ugas will score a knockout over Spence when the two of them meet in early 2022, so his best chance of beating him is by decision.
Ugas has excellent boxing skills, and he’s more than capable of outboxing Errol if that’s what his game plan is.
If Spence makes the same mistake Manny Pacquiao did by not letting his hands go, Ugas can beat him by decision, but it won’t be an easy fight for the 35-year-old Cuban.
Unlike his last contest against the 42-year-old Pacquiao, Ugas WON’T have the youth and size advantage over the 31-year-old Spence.