Undefeated boxer and Dallas native Errol Spence Jr. will face Yordenis Ugas in a welterweight championship unification bout this Saturday, April 16, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The showdown headlines a Premier Boxing Champions event on Showtime Pay-Per-View.
Spence holds world championship belts with the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF), while Ugas holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt.
The 32-year-old boxer is 27-0 in his professional career, with 21 wins by knockout. Nicknamed “The Truth,” Spence was a three-time national champion in the welterweight division as an amateur.
He also competed for the U.S. Olympic team, losing in the quarterfinals of the 2012 London Olympics. The fighter compiled a 64-13 record in the amateurs.
Born in New York, Spence has lived in Dallas most of his life. He has the city’s support behind him, as Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson proclaimed Saturday to be Errol “The Truth” Spence Junior Day.
Spence gained notoriety when he was involved in a single-car accident in October 2019 that landed him in intensive care at a Dallas hospital. Despite being ejected from his Ferrari in the crash, he was released from the hospital six days later, discarded the wheelchair given to him, and walked 24 flights of stairs up to his high-rise apartment.
“I’m just built different,” said Spence when asked about the accident in an early March press conference.
Spence was found to have been drinking the night of the accident and was charged with a DWI but avoided jail time and received only probation. He spent close to 14 months fully recovering from the severe car crash.
“There was no time I felt like it was over. I felt it was going to be a hard road back,” said Spence. “I just had to keep working.”
Spence thoroughly defeated former World Champion Danny Garcia in his first fight back in December 2020 at AT&T Stadium. He has not stepped into the ring again since that day.
Spence was scheduled to face the future Hall of Fame fighter Manny Pacquiao last August, but doctors discovered a detached retina in his left eye during an examination. He was forced to pull out of the fight with Pacquiao and undergo surgery.
With just 11 days until the scheduled fight date with Pacquiao, Ugas stepped in to replace Spence. He defeated Pacquiao in a unanimous decision upset to send the Filipino boxer into retirement.
“It was a great fight for me. The world got to know me that night,” said Ugas about his victory over Pacquiao in an interview with Al Día. “It was a great night. Every boxer dreams of a night like that.”
Now Ugas will face Spence rather than fill in for him.
Ugas, 35, sports a 27-4 professional record and has won 12 of his last 13 fights dating back to 2016. He earned a bronze medal for his native Cuba at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Ugas fled Cuba in a raft, arriving in Miami in 2010, but not before being arrested several times for attempting to leave the country without the government’s permission.
Since he arrived in the U.S., Ugas has attempted to bring attention to the fight for freedom and democracy in his home country. He credits defeating Pacquiao with giving him a bigger platform to spread the message.
“Now, my voice is stronger. My message gets across much louder,” said Ugas. “The biggest and most important fight of my life is effecting change in my country.”
“A lot of people want a change in our country,” added Ugas. “As a boxer, I will do my best, in adversity, to win the most difficult fight, for me and for all Cubans who seek freedom, who seek a better country, leaving behind the dictatorship that rules us with an iron hand.”
Most of Ugas’ family, including his mother, still live in Cuba. His nickname, “54 Milagros,” is an homage to his mother and Aroldis Chapman, the legendary Cuban pitcher in his 13th season in the MLB.
“Fifty-four is the number my great hero, Aroldis Chapman, used on his uniform. Milagros is my mother’s name,” he said. “I talk with mom every day over the phone. I feel frustrated for not having her here with me. Money is no longer a problem. Thank God I’ve been faring well. Now I have other problems to solve. I hope I’ll be together with mom really soon.”
Ugas has been boxing since age 6 when he entered a practice arena in his native Santiago de Cuba. He called the upcoming bout with Spence the biggest fight of his life at an early March press conference.
“I will face one of the best fighters, pound for pound. But I’m a competitor; I’m a warrior. That night I will do my best to win regardless of the pressure,” he said. “Spence has the advantage — not for fighting at home, but because he’s one of the best boxers worldwide. He’s undefeated; he is a champion. But I have a history, too.”