Showtime Shawn Porter vs. Yordenis Ugas (Odds Review)

Published

6 years ago

March 9, 2019

WBC world welterweight champion Shawn Porter returns to action this Saturday night as he faces veteran Yordenis Ugas in the main event on Saturday night’s fights on FOX. Promoter Tom Brown has a 14-fight boxing card in the works for the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California and the support bouts have a lot of veteran names in action.

Porter (29-2-1) won the vacant WBC belt in his last outing when he won a UD over Danny Garcia in September of last year. For the hard working Porter, it had been four long years since he had held a world title and you can count on Porter to come into this first defense at his usual high level of preparation. Ugas has been putting in the work since a 2016 comeback, going 8-0. Some of those bouts were on short notice and many saw Ugas enter as an underdog. Ugas, a Cuban with a 23-3 pro mark, is cut from the same cloth as Porter in that both prefer a rugged fight. Though he has been fighting often and at a high level, Porter has been operating at a higher level throughout that time. In his eight recent wins, Ugas has scored four stoppages and he may find himself looking for the KO after Porter proves to be the more skilled of the two.

Also getting attention on the card is the scheduled 8 rounder at heavyweight between veteran headhunter Amir Mansour (23-3-1) and undefeated Efe Ajagba (8-0). The 24 year old Nigerian born Ajagba is a raw prospect and this is his most battle-tested opponent to date. Ajagba is best known for having an opponent walk out of the ring and notably, that is the only opponent he hasn’t knocked out. Mansour is mean and gritty, but he is over 40 and coming off a PED suspension. Mansour will come hard in the early going, but he will fade if he can’t take Ajagba out.

Veteran light heavyweight Andrjez Fonfara withdrew from the card, so a welterweight 10 rounder between veterans Abel Ramos and Francisco Santana was added in the co-feature spot. Both fighters have been impressive in recent outings, with Ramos dueling contender Jamal James in April of 2018 and Santana coming off a win over Felix Diaz in his last outing. After his loss to James, Ramos has gotten busy, going 6-0 in bouts against lesser competition, we will see against Santana if he is ready for a jump in competition. As for Fonfara, he officially retired from the sport, stating he no longer had the fire.

The undercard counts on veterans Robert Guerrero (34-6) and Jesus Andres Cuellar (28-3) as they are in bouts of eight and six rounds respectively. Guerrero had recently retired but he returns here in a fight that sees him a wide favorite. Cueller too appears to just be getting in ring time.

Below are lines for the card as the stay stood entering weigh-in day. Check your local listings for start times on FOX.

Dignity Health Sports Park – Carson, California – Fox – Saturday, March 9, 2019

Welterweight 10 rounds

Francisco Santana -190

Abel Ramos +165

Welterweight 12 rounds

Shawn Porter -350

Yordenis Ugas +290

Heavyweight 8 rounds

Efe Ajagba -1500

Amir Mansour +1000

Bantamweight 8 rounds