Via Jeff Aaron: Errol Spence Jr feels that he will easily handle Yordenis Ugas on April 16 if he chooses to fight him the way he did with Shawn Porter.
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) says he wants nothing better than for WBA welterweight champion Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) to try and trade him April 16 on Showtime PPV at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Errol doesn’t believe 35-year-old Ugas is capable of standing there with him and fighting the way he did during his fight with Porter three years ago in March 2019.
Although Ugas is from Cuba and has seen a lot during his years there, Spence thinks he has had a harder time in his life and will be the more hungry warrior.
Ugas will join the fight with Spence after his big win over Manny Pacquiao last August. The Cuban talent came on for Manny after Spence withdrew due to an eye injury.
Pacquiao, 42, who hasn’t fought in two years, looks like a shell of his former self, and he just can’t fight hard enough to win.
Spence says he can stop Ugas soon
Errol Spence Jr told the Porter Way Podcast: “I just had to keep winning when asked what he needed to do to prove he was 100% recovered from the car accident.
“I just need to keep winning. People will continue to have doubts, and for me, that’s more motivating than anything,” said Spence. “It will make you or break you.
“Ugas is a tough fighter. You saw when he fought Shawn. He’s waving for Shawn to come in, and he’s in high spirits. So if I get the same Ugas want to trade and fight, it could be a soon knock down.
“No, it was probably the worst Pacquiao fight I’ve ever seen,” Errol said when asked if Ugas’ fight against Manny Pacquiao was the best version of Ugas he’s ever seen. “Many people don’t see it from Pacquiao’s point of view.
“We’ve seen Pacquiao do five, six, seven combinations and not get tired and run out of gas, just a powerful, explosive puncher jumping in and out. He didn’t do that when fighting Ugas.
“He’s basically a shell of himself. God bless his heart then,” Errol said when informed that Ugas would want to go to war. “If you can beat me and beat me, I will make it a dog fight and we will go to war.
“So if I can beat you and knock you out, that’s what I’ll do. I feel like he’s fulfilled his American dream and isn’t as hungry as he is anymore. We shall see.
“Sure,” Spence said when asked if he was more of a hungry warrior than Ugas because of what he went through in his life,” Spence said.
Errol Targets Crawford After Ugas
“I’m fine [financially] but I’m not selfish. It’s about my kids, it’s about the wealth of the generation, it’s about my mother, my father, my niece and my nephews,” Spence said.
Spence said: “It looks like two fights, when asked how many fights are planned for 2022.” I told them what I wanted. [Terence Crawford]. It’s easy for me to do this weight. Now that I’m older, I’m not as young as I used to be and losing eight pounds in a day is not easy.
“I told them this [Crawford] is the fight I want, and after that, I’m moving forward. It was two more battles, Ugas and Terence and then it was over for me. I’m going up,” said Spence.
It’s important for Spence to scrap the Crawford fight this year if he plans to move up to 154 in 2023. With Spence having weight loss issues, it’s even more important for him to eliminate the fight with Crawford .
Crawford is also talking about moving to 154, so it might not be as big of a deal as Spence thinks he needs to fight the Nebraska natives this year.
Once the 147 lb titles become fragmented, contenders Jaron Ennis, Conor Benn, Vergil Ortiz Jr, Keith Thurman and Eimantas Stanionis will go after them.
Errol told Porter to fight
“My coach in the whole boot camp was training to box up, keep turning, do all this and that,” Spence said of his approach to the fight against Shawn Porter in 2019.
“In my heart, I knew what I was going to do. I said, ‘We will fight. Forget all this boxing and the like. ‘ I don’t know how my coach didn’t know what I was going to do because even in the game I wouldn’t move like that. I fought.
“So I knew it was going to be a fight. I don’t know if I’m going to stop him. I just knew that it would be an all-out war. I know Shawn can lose a lot and also give a lot.
“So I’m like whoever goes down first and their will is broken first, that’s what’s going to happen,” Spence said.
“I’m ready to go out and show ‘The Truth’ that I’m better than everyone else out there saying I am and that I can fight this guy in a way no one expected me to. wait I’ll fight him,” Shawn Porter said of fighting against Spence.
“I remember the round before he landed a punch that made me put my gloves on the canvas to catch myself, I was thinking to myself, someone is going to have to take a knock because this is going to be a draw.
“One inning was when he caught me with a great shot, and I was furious because I was determined because I was wrong in that. That’s why I looked at Errol and said, ‘Let’s go.’ I want to let you know that I am great. Don’t run to me because I’m great.
“But other than that, I was sad and angry because I was the one who got knocked down. It has led to something great at the moment, and I think it has led to something great in the sport of boxing for a long time,” said Porter.
It would have been better if Spence chose to fight Porter because he made that fight a lot harder than it should have been. Spence fought Porter, and barely won by deciding to split 12 rounds.
It’s unclear what Spence’s game plan would be for the fight with Ugas, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that was the plan he used for the Porter competition. If Spence manages to defeat Ugas, he will play into his hand, making the fight more competitive than it could have been.
