By Olu Allen
AFTER having defeat boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, Youdenis Ugas has been ordered by the World Boxing Association to defend his WBA ‘Super World’ welterweight title against his number one contender Eimantas Stanionis within 119 days. It is part of a four-person box-off that the sanctioning body is calling for.
In addition to the compulsory mandatory defence, WBA also wants WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Jamal James (27-1, 12 KOs) to defend against number 5th WBA Radzhab Butaev (13-0, 10 KOs). The winner of the two ordered fights will then battle come next year.
This is a move by the WBA to reduce the number of titles, as they’ve got two champions at 147-lb currently, with Ugas holding the ‘Super World’ and James having the ‘World’ strap AKA ‘regular’ belt.
I feel this is a bad time however to pick the fight by the association. This is a worst time to order Ugas to fight the 27-year-old Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis because Ugas has a good chance of fighting a rematch with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao after beating him last August.
Pacquiao has recently said that he will wants a rematch with Ugas. Pacman complained he wasn’t at his best due to leg cramps from too much running during training camp.
If Ugas is tied down fighting the little-known unproven Stanionis, he won’t be able to fight Pacquiao in a lucrative rematch. Moreso, it is possible that if Pacquiao doesn’t get the rematch before the end of the year with Ugas, he may change his mind and retire.
There will be no profit in a fight between Ugas and Stanionis. These guys are not popular enough on their own to sell this on pay-per-view. Ugas will only big money by fighting the likes of Pacquiao, Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford etc.
Unfortunately for Ugas, Spence is out for the remainder of 2021 after having eye surgery to repair a torn retina he suffered while training for his canceled fight with Pacquiao last August.
The order by WBA for Ugas to fight Stanionis only makes him stuck with this low-paying fight. A possible fortune for Ugas is to petition with the WBA to fight Pacquiao if the Filipino star is interested in facing him before the end of the year.
Another news for more boxing bout during the falls season is that of DAZN and Matchroom. They announced three premium fights nights to add to an ever-increasing fall fight schedule, live and worldwide on DAZN:
1. October 16: Former four-weight world ruler Mikey Garcia returns to action against European Super-Lightweight Champion Sandor Martin at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California.
2. October 30: WBC Interim Heavyweight World Champion Dillian Whyte faces Swedish fighter Otto Wallin, live from The O2 in London and worldwide on DAZN.
3. December 18: Heavyweights Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora rematch in another epic clash at the AO Arena in Manchester, live worldwide on DAZN (except New Zealand and Samoa)
