Shawn Porter (29-2-1, 17 KOs) put his WBC welterweight title on the line against Cuban challenger Yordenis Ugas (23-3, 11 KOs) tomorrow in Carson, California.
Porter (-370) will make his first title defense at Dignity Health Sports Park after winning the vacant title back in September against Danny Garcia.
Ugas (+270) earned the right to be the first challenger after defeating Argentine boxer Cesar Barrionuevo via a 12-round unanimous decision in an undercard bout of the Porter-Garcia fight.
Ugas is not as experienced and physical as Porter, but although he’s the underdog he shouldn’t be underestimated. He’s likely to present a very tough challenge as he’s coming off a couple of good wins that have raised his confidence. Furthermore, he’s won eight fights in a row and four of those came via TKO.
Stylistically this fight should be quite interesting as Porter, who’s a pressure fighter that likes to always push forward, will face an opponent that has the boxing skills needed to trouble him. The Cuban has good legs to move around, a nice jab, good timing and is a decent counter puncher.
If Ugas can fight from outside, make this bout less of a brawl, and turn the combat into a jab exchange then he could have a chance to come out on top as he’s a far better technical boxer than Porter.
In his 2014’s loss to Kell Brook Porter struggled as the Britton used plenty of jabs and plenty of right-handed punches on the way to a victory by a majority decision. If Ugas uses a similar strategy he could pull the upset by catching Porter with a power punch when he tries to get inside and attack.
The problem for Ugas is that he doesn’t have as much strength as Brook to neutralize Porter when he comes in, so unless he manages to surprise him with a huge blow he will end yielding to Porter’s pressure.
If Ugas lets Porter push him back the fight could end sooner rather than later as Porter is way more physical and has more stamina than the Cuban.
This could be a fight of two halves, with the first one featuring a fresh Ugas that could outbox Porter in the first few rounds, but as the fight drags on Porter will take advantage of Ugas’ fatigue and overpower him with the inside pressure.
If that’s the case Porter may win with a late stoppage as he finds a way to overwhelm a tired Ugas, or via a majority decision if the fight goes to the cards.
