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Mike CoppingerESPN
Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugas will unify welterweight titles on April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Spence announced on social media.
The bout will be Spence’s third at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, which is near his hometown of DeSoto; he defeated Mikey Garcia and Danny Garcia (no relation) at the venue in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
The deal was being finalized in December, as ESPN reported, but the fight wasn’t announced until two months later as Premier Boxing Champions officials sought to lock in a date and venue.
Spence, who will put his WBC and IBF titles on the line, will be making his second comeback from serious injury. The 31-year-old was involved in a single-car accident in October 2019 that hospitalized him for days and sidelined him for months. A planned August 2021 fight with Manny Pacquiao was derailed after he underwent surgery to repair a detached retina.
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) stepped in on 11 days’ notice and scored the upset of Pacquiao via unanimous decision. Now, Ugas will defend his WBA title in a three-belt unification.
The 35-year-old Cuban and Spence have one common opponent: Shawn Porter. Spence defeated Porter in a brutal September 2019 fight via split decision. Six months earlier, Ugas dropped a controversial split-decision to Porter.
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) is rated No. 2 at 147 pounds by ESPN; Ugas is one spot behind. Terence Crawford, who holds the other welterweight title, is No. 1.
A fight between the winner of Spence-Ugas and Crawford would crown an undisputed welterweight champion, but there remains a roadblock. Eimantas Stanionis stepped aside from his mandatory title shot against Ugas to allow him to fight Spence. Stanionsis will fight Radzhab Butaev on the undercard, sources told ESPN. Both are rated in ESPN’s top 10 at welterweight.