By Huck Allen: Yordenis Ugas and Errol Spence Jr. will be meeting in March or April for a three-title unification match at welterweight.
Boxing News 24 has learned that this vast 147-lb clash will be going down in the next two to three months in a fight that will have massive ramifications for the division and the sport.
There’s talk that the winner of the Spence vs. Ugas unification fight will meet WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford in November for the undisputed championship of the division.
In the meantime, Crawford still needs to defend his WBO title against possibly Josh Taylor or Keith Thurman. Those two names have consistently surfaced for the Nebraska native to take in the first half of 2022.
Ugas reveals Spence fight in March or April
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) will be fighting for the first time since beating the 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao last August in a shocking win in Las Vegas that resulted in the Filipino star retiring from the sport.
The question now is whether Ugas can take advantage of the problems that have beset the soon-to-be 32-year-old Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) in the last three years with him suffering an eye injury and being involved in a horrifying car crash?
“We’re targeting March or April for the fight. It’s going to be for three titles,” Yordenis Ugas said to FOX Sports Boxing when asked what’s next for him in 2022. “That’s a fight that we want.
“We’re targeting the springtime for the match against Errol,” said Ugas.
The Spence vs. Ugas fight winner will need to fight the victor in the WBA-ordered clash between WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Radzhab Butaev and #1 Eimantas Stanionis and Radzhab Butaev.
“The fight’s in April,” the unbeaten Errol states on Instagram. “Man down, strap season. He already knows what time it is.”
Spence needs to get this fight done because he can’t afford more downtime with his career. With the injuries that Spence has suffered repeatedly since 2019, it isn’t easy to know how much he has left in the tank.
Spence vs. Ugas winner has WBA commitment
It’s unclear whether the World Boxing Association will force the Spence – Ugas winner to face the Butaev-Stanionis victor in 2022 or if they’ll allow that clash to take place in 2023.
If the WBA forces the Spence vs. Ugas winner to take that fight, that leaves Crawford out in the cold until 2023, and he’ll need to continue to wait.
Crawford’s situation is starting to look a little desperate, though, because he’s got the talented young lions Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. on his heels.
Soon to be 35, it’s unknown whether Crawford has enough left in the tank to turn back the threat of Ennis or Ortiz Jr. Even if Crawford was still in his prime, Boots Ennis would be a nightmare for him but he’s not at his best any longer.
As we saw in Crawford’s last fight against Shawn Porter in November, he’s lost a few steps and is very vulnerable.