Posted on 12/08/2021
By: Hans Themistode
From the moment Yordenis Ugas wrapped his WBA welterweight title around his waist, he envisioned a showdown against current unified champion Errol Spence Jr. While a matchup against the Dallas native is still one that he craves most, he has business to attend to first.
As first reported by Boxingscene.com, both team Ugas and mandatory challenger Eimantas Stanionis, have reached an agreement. As a result, their December 9th purse bid has been officially canceled.
In an attempt to end the proliferation of WBA world titles in numerous weight classes, the sanctioning body ordered several of their “Regular” and “Super” champions to square off. In the case of Ugas, the organization’s “Super” champion, he was officially ordered to take part in a four-man box-off.
On one side of the bracket, Jamal James saw his secondary title ripped away from him at the hands of Radzhab Butaev via ninth-round stoppage. Now, the winner of Ugas vs. Stanionis would then move on to face Butaev in the second half of 2022.
In terms of when and where Ugas and Stanionis will share the ring with one another, that has yet to be revealed.
For the 35-year-old Ugas, he’s currently in the midst of the best form of his career. Since back-to-back defeats in 2014, the Cuban native has picked up victories in 12 of his past 13 contests. His most notable wins came against the likes of the previously mentioned Jamal James, Thomas Dulorme, and Ray Robinson. Despite the magnitude of those victories, Ugas recently snagged the most significant of his career, a unanimous decision over future first-ballot Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao earlier this year as a late replacement.
Regardless of the monumental win for the WBA belt holder, Stanionis heads into their showdown brimming with confidence. The 27 year old Lithuanian has looked impressive throughout the early goings of his career. The 2016 former Olympian rolled past fringe contender Thomas Dulorme in April of 2021, before settling for a no-contest against former champion Luis Collazo due to an accidental clash of heads.
With one world champion on the verge of being crowned in the WBA sanctioning body, the organization’s winner could find themselves standing across the ring from Spence Jr. in an attempt to unify the division even further.