ARLINGTON, Texas – There were nights nine years ago when a depressed Yordenis Ugas didn’t have enough to eat.
Ugas had defected to the United States from Cuba in 2010, but he hadn’t come close to realizing his “American Dream.” The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist shared a tiny apartment with three other boxers in North Bergen, New Jersey, and his Miami-based manager had stopped sending him money.
There were days Ugas felt lost, as if his boxing career wouldn’t amount to what he had expected when he encountered grave danger just to escape a Communist regime in Cuba. Then Ugas, who was imprisoned six times after failed attempts to defect, suffered back-to-back decision defeats to Emanuel Robles and Amir Imam over a 2½-month span in 2014 that initiated a layoff that lasted 27 months.
“I always knew that coming back was a possibility,” Ugas told BoxingScene.com. “I didn’t really consider full on retirement at any point. Thank God that life has given me a second chance to get back into the sport and to accomplish everything I have wanted to accomplish. I’m really thankful for that.”
The biggest change Ugas underwent during his hiatus was that he became a father to Yordenis Ugas Jr. Raising his 6-year-old son, who has autism, lit a fire under Ugas that he didn’t previously have to motivate him.
The 35-year-old Ugas also changed his team, now led by respected Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, jumped up two weight classes – from lightweight to welterweight – and eventually moved his training base from Paterson, New Jersey, to Las Vegas.
“It’s really an incredible change for me the past 6½ to seven years,” Ugas said. “I was out of boxing. I was totally out of the picture. And look at me now. This is the fifth world champion that I’m gonna be facing and eighth undefeated fighter I’m gonna be going up against. So, wow! Right?”
Ugas is 12-1 since he resumed his career at 147 pounds in August 2016, when he unanimously out-pointed favored eventual WBA world welterweight champ Jamal James (27-2, 12 KOs) at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. His lone loss during this hugely successful 5½-year stretch was a controversial 12-round, split-decision defeat to former IBF and WBC champ Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) in March 2019 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
His career-changing victory over Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao on August 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas advanced Ugas into another enormous moment in his career – a welterweight title unification showdown with Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday night.
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) and Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) will fight for Ugas’ WBA “super” title and Spence’s IBF and WBC belts in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at AT&T Stadium. Their 12-round title unification fight will headline a four-fight telecast scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET ($74.95).
“Two things for lack of a better word catapulted me into this new Yordenis Ugas that you see now,” Ugas said. “The first one is I had a kid in the 2½ years that I was out of boxing. I had a lot of time to reflect on things. But having that kid, that changed everything and it made me realize what was truly worth it in life. And then, I changed my team. I changed how I train, who I trained with, and that helped complement the reflective moments I had before I came back to boxing. That’s the Yordenis Ugas that you see now.”
Caesars Sportsbook lists Spence as a 6-1 favorite to beat Ugas, who replaced Spence as Pacquiao’s opponent on 11 days’ notice eight months ago once Spence’s torn left retina was detected during a pre-fight eye exam. Spence, a 32-year-old southpaw from nearby DeSoto, Texas, will fight for the first time since he underwent surgery to repair his damaged eye.
Ugas, meanwhile, proudly reflected on his inspiring journey during their final press conference Thursday at AT&T Stadium, where he spoke of the importance of freedom for fellow Cubans.
“I’m so happy,” Ugas said. “This is a dream come true. And I believe that I’m not only setting an inspiration for everybody here, I’m setting an example for young fighters everywhere, to know that with hard work and dedication you should never give up because dreams do come true. And you can get to the top, even if people doubt you, that you’re not gonna get to the top, you can do it if you believe in yourself with enough hard work and dedication.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.