Yordenis Ugas would welcome a rematch with Shawn Porter, but the Cuban contender doesn’t think the feeling is mutual.
“He won’t fight me again,” Ugas told BoxingScene.com. “He knows that a rematch would go the same way as our first fight. That’s why he won’t do it.”
Ugas lost a split decision to Porter 10½ months ago in their 12-round fight for the WBC welterweight title Porter then owned. Porter’s win was considered controversial, though.
One judge, Zachary Young, even scored nine of the 12 rounds for Ugas, who won 117-111 on his card. The two other judges, Max De Luca and Steve Morrow, scored the fight for Porter, 115-113 and 116-112, respectively, last March 9 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
“I know I won that fight,” Ugas said of a main event FOX televised. “It was a close fight, a competitive fight. But I know I did enough to beat him.”
Ugas suggested he won seven rounds in what was the first world title fight of the 33-year-old veteran’s career. Even though he officially lost, his performance against Porter gave Ugas’ career a boost.
“I definitely gained more fans and more respect from what happened in that fight,” Ugas said. “I was able to show the fans my skills against a world champion. People now know that I’m one of the best fighters in the world.”
Ugas (24-4, 11 KOs) rebounded from his close loss to Las Vegas’ Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) in his following fight, a decisive defeat of previously unbeaten Omar Figueroa Jr. in a WBC welterweight elimination match. Ugas won 11 of 12 rounds on all three scorecards that night after flooring Figueroa (28-1-1, 19 KOs) late in the first round on the Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman undercard July 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Ugas, a Las Vegas resident, will return to the ring Saturday night in Biloxi, Mississippi. His 10-round fight against Mike Dallas Jr. will headline an FS1 telecast from Beau Rivage Resort & Casino (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
Ugas hopes a victory over Dallas (23-3-2, 11 KOs), of Bakersfield, California, leads to a shot at IBF/WBC welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) or WBA champ Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) later this year.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.