Errol Spence Jr., Isaac Cruz score TKO victories in flawless performances

WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. faces WBA champ Yordenis Ugas in the main event of a PBC card at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 9 p.m. ET, with prelims on Showtime at 7 p.m. ET).

Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) is fighting for the first time since defeating Danny Garcia in December 2020. He was supposed to fight Manny Pacquiao last year but was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a left eye injury during training.

“This fight might not go the distance,” Spence said during Thursday’s news conference. “Ugas is a tough fighter. He’s a guy that embraces the fight and wanting to go toe-to-toe. … If I have to stay there and fight, I will. If we get in the clinch and start fighting, I don’t think it’s going 12 rounds.”

Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), who took the fight against Pacquiao on 11 days’ notice to replace Spence and scored an upset decision win in August, is a big underdog against Spence.

“I’m a warrior. I’m a competitor,” Ugas said. “I’ve been facing adversity ever since I was 6 or 7 years old. I’ve been fighting ever since I was a little kid. This is nothing new to me. It’s going to be a great night for me but no different than any other fight that I’ve had throughout my boxing career.”

Stay here for live results and analysis from Mike Coppinger and Ben Baby.

Next fight: Brandun Lee vs. Zachary Ochoa, 10 rounds, junior welterweights

Results:

Mielnicki dominates Karpency in decision win

Junior middleweight prospect Vito Mielnicki won an easy unanimous decision over Dan Karpency with scorecards of 80-72, 79-73, 79-73. Mielnicki (11-1, 7 KOs) has been one of PBC’s high-profile young prospects, having headlined a boxing card last Christmas.

Mielnicki, who has been looking to regain momentum in his career following an upset loss to James Martin last April, did enough to win easily on the cards. While Karpency (9-5-1, 4 KOs) did a good job of evading the Roseland, New Jersey, fighter from the outside, he couldn’t do anything with that evasiveness. Mielnicki did his best work on the inside and racked up the rounds.

It will be interesting to see where Mielnicki goes from here. Karpency, who fights out of Adah, Pennsylvania, has now lost three straight, including a wipeout loss to elite prospect Xander Zayas last October. But at this point, any win is a good one for the 19-year-old Mielnicki.

Still to come:

• Title fight: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Yordenis Ugas, for Spences’ WBC and IBF welterweight titles and Ugas’ WBA “super” welterweight title

• Isaac Cruz vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa, 10 rounds, lightweights

• Jose Valenzuela vs. Francisco Vargas, 10 rounds, lightweights

• Cody Crowley vs. Josesito Lopez, 10 rounds, welterweights

• Title fight: Radzhab Butaev vs. Eimantas Stanionis, 12 rounds, for Butaev’s WBA “regular” welterweight title