Yorgenis Ugas Outpoints Abel Ramos to Join the Ranks of WBA Title-holders

Premier Boxing Champions was at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles tonight for a televised boxing card. The main event matched Yordenis Ugas against Abel Ramos for the vacant WBA (regular) welterweight title. Ugas was a heavy favorite and emerged victorious, overcoming Arizona’s Ramos in a bout that went to the scorecards. It was Ugas’s 11^th victory in his last 12 starts, a skein interrupted by a disputed loss to Shawn Porter.

The 34-year-old Ugas, a decorated amateur in his native Cuba, is a fine tactician and he fought a tactical fight. He had faster hands and landed the cleaner shots and Ramos, who had a much higher knockout ratio, never did find an opening for his vaunted right hand although he did buckle Ugas’s knees in the waning seconds of the match.

There were no knockdowns and the judges were split. Two favored Ugas (26-4) by margins of 115-113. The dissenter favored Ramos (26-4-2) by 117-111.

The oddball score, which flabbergasted the FOX TV commentators, was turned in by Lou Moret, a man frequently referenced as Dr. Lou Moret although he isn’t a medical doctor. Moret, who has had a long and distinguished career as a California boxing official, is 76 years old. Tonight, he was an old 76.

Other Bouts

Omar Juarez, a 21-year-old junior welterweight from Brownsville, Texas, had too much class for Dakota Linger, winning the 8-round contest by scores of 80-72 and 79-73 twice. But the rugged Linger, a former Tough Man competitor and two-time West Virginia state wrestling champion, was no stroll in the park. Juarez improved to 9-0 (4). Linger, who took the fight on short notice, declined to 12-4-2.

In a battle of unbeatens in the 140-pound weight class, Jesus Alejandro Ramos, the 19-year-old nephew of Abel Ramos, put away Esteban Garcia in the second round. A big junior welterweight with an economical style, Ramos (13-0, 12 KOs) wasn’t able to knock Garcia off his feet but had Garcia in a bad way when the fight was halted at the 2:45 mark. Garcia, from Brawley, California, brought a 14-0 record but had been fighting exclusively in Mexico.

Canadian junior middleweight Cody Crowley, in his first appearance in a U.S. ring in 52 months, pitched a shutout over Albuquerque’s Josh Torres, winning all 10 rounds on all three cards to advance his record to 19-0 (9). A 27-year-old southpaw from Petersborough, Ontario, Canada, Crowley had Torres (22-7-2) fighting off his back foot the entire fight.

In the TV opener of the 6-fight card, 29-year-old Uzbek southpaw Batyr Akhmedov steamrolled Rey Perez, a California-based Filipino, stopping him in the opening round after decking him twice with body punches. The official time was 2:19.

Akhmedov, who represented Turkey in the 2016 Olympics improved to 8-1 (7) in his first start back since losing a narrow 12-round decision to undefeated Mario Barrios. Perez entered the contest with a 24-11 record.

Leduan Barthelemy, weighing a career-high 136 ½ pounds, halted Ricky Dulay in the third round. The Las Vegas-based Cuban defector, the younger brother of former two-division title-holder Rances Barthelemy, improved his ledger to 16-1-1 (8). Dulay, a 26-year-old Filipino, suffered his sixth straight loss.

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