Keith Idec of BoxingScene.com reported that Yordenis Ugas and Mario Barrios will be set to face one another sometime this summer for the WBC interim welterweight title. This marks yet another WBC interim world title as Carlos Adames and Sebastian Fundora will be making defenses of their interim WBC titles while the respective champions are sidelined.
According to Idec, the fight could land in July, and more than likely Showtime would be the network broadcasting the fight. Errol Spence Jr., is the WBC welterweight champion but has been out for nearly a year after defeating Yordenis Ugas. Spence has been rumored to fight Keith Thurman, but as the months go by, that fight seems to be getting even colder than its once reception.
“I was out of the ring for a long time, but when I came back and gave Jamal James the first loss of his career, I knew that I would be coming for big things. Everything changed for me that night and it’s all led up to this,” said Ugas last April during the lead-up to his pay-per-view fight against Errol Spence Jr “The Pacquiao fight was a great night for me. After that fight, my life changed in even more ways. But I’ve always kept myself humble. I showed everyone who the WBA champion was. I have my eye on continuing to make history.
Yordenis Ugas, who at one time had a journeyman-like record battled his way back in the sport as he defeated Manny Pacquiao, Abel Ramos, Omar Figueroa JR., Jamal James Thomas Dulorme, Levan Ghvamichava en route to becoming the WBA welterweight world champion.
“I have relocated my training camp to Las Vegas, Nevada, and am back working with Bob Santos. It’s been a change of pace, and coming off a bit of a lay-off, after some really big fights, it’s been refreshing resting my mind and body after two hard camps back-to-back. The change is one I think that’s going to elevate my career these next few years, because I’ll be training in the fight capital of the world,” said Barrios prior to his last fight a stoppage win over Jovannie Santiago. “A win puts me in the position I want to be in, which is competing for a world title. A lot of titles have become vacant as of late, and I think with a strong showing I could get in the mix with any of the world champions in the division. My goal right now is to become a two-time world champion, and that is what I am set on doing. A win essentially gives me that next step to get close to a title eliminator or the bigger names in the welterweight division. I want to perform in a way that makes my city and my team proud and continues to make the networks want to see me in bigger fights.”
Barrios has actually headlined two pay-per-view cards on the b-side, whereas Ugas has only headlined one. Barrios faced Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman both in losing efforts. Now Barrios will look to become a two-time world champion in a match-up between two top contenders in the welterweight division looking to vie for another big shot in the future. One of the most interesting things will be the heated rivalry between Ismael Salas, and Bob Santos, who once trained together and with the same fighters, but have since split. This fight will see the coaches who are no longer with one another pitted in opposite corners for the first time since they split a few weeks after Hector Luis Garcia defeated Chris Colbert last year.
