WBA Confirms Stanionis Will Step Aside for Spence-Ugas
Looks like we’ll get a Unification fight at Welterweight after all. This, as in a surprise late Saturday night announcement, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza has confirmed that a battle between WBC/IBF World Welterweight Champ Errol Spence and his organization’s world titleholder Yordenis Ugas will move forward.
Mendoza tweeted late Saturday the WBA mandatory Challenger Eimantas Stanionis has agreed to step aside and allow unification bout to take place.
👀 Spence-Ugás & Butaev- Stanionis 🔥 #WBABoxing https://t.co/5LPe2CVTzX
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) December 19, 2021
The tweet translates into English:
In scoop I confirm that the WBA authorized the combat after Stanionis agreed to withdraw to allow the unification. The Lithuanian will fight Butaev.
The organization had just a few weeks ago mandated that Ugas, who defeated Manny Pacquiao for the WBA World Welterweight Title in August, would have to fight its number one Contender Stanionis from Lithuania.
As for Spence, 27-0, 21 KOs, he was originally supposed to have fought Pacquiao before suffering a detached retina during training and had to have eye surgery. Spence has only had one fight/title defense since his horrific one car crash in October of 2019.
The Texan, who was later found to be driving while impaired, sent his car catapulting and was ejected, suffering a concussion and a fractured jaw.
Spence eventually returned to the ring and defeated Danny Garcia in a 12 round decision in December of last year. It was the first defense of the Unified IBF/WBC Titles that he won by beating Shawn Porter in September of 2019.
As for the Cuban-born Ugas, 27-4, the Pacquiao win was career-defining and now sets him up for the chance to hold three of the 147 lb. world titles He used his superior jab and long right hand to keep Pacquiao at bay to win a 12 round unanimous decision win in Las Vegas in August.
The belief is that Spence will be fully recovered from the eye surgery to fight in either February or March to go for a third different world title at Welterweight.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
