Fast Results from Las Vegas: Yordenis Ugas Upsets Manny Pacquiao

Yordenis Ugas Upsets Manny Pacquiao

Las Vegas – Manny Pacquiao entered the ring tonight as a 4/1 favorite over Yordenis Ugas at the sports books at the MGM Grand, the host property of tonight’s welterweight title match at T-Mobile Arena. But the legendary Filipino fighter was unable to turn back Father Time once again. Ugas, who was naturally the bigger man but was thought by many people to be damaged goods because of an apparent swollen left biceps, copped a unanimous decision, winning by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 twice. This reporter had it a draw but most in the pro-Pacquiao crowd accepted the decision as fair.

Pacquiao started well, landing rapid-fire combinations and it was he who initiated the action throughout most of the fight. But Ugas repeatedly landed hard shots and the judges were not swayed by the crowd, a near-sellout which suggested that few people cancelled when Pacquiao’s original opponent Errol Spence Jr was forced to withdraw.

The Cuban won for the 11^th time in his last 12 starts, elevating his record to 27-4. Pacquaio falls to 62-8 in what may have been his farewell fight, although he was non-committal in the post-fight interview.

Co-Feature

The co-feature was a 10-round welterweight contest between old war horses and former title-holders Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Victor Ortiz. On paper, this would be a fan-friendly fight, but to the contrary, it was a messy fight marred by frequent clinches and the crowd periodically booed. The best round was the 10^th when both fighters went all-out to win.

When the smoke cleared, the 38-year-old Guerrero won his fourth straight and improved his record 37-6-1 by virtue of a unanimous decision: 96-94 across the board. Ortiz, who returned to the ring after a 42-month absence complicated by legal troubles, fell to 32-7-3.

In a well-matched 12-round featherweight eliminator that ended in a brutal knockout, Manny Pacquiao’s countryman Mark Magsayo knocked out Julio Ceja at the 50-second mark of round 10.

Magsayo dropped Ceja in the first 30 seconds of the fight, but Ceja, from Palmdale, California by way of Mexico, came back and returned the favor in round five. In fact, Ceja was ahead on all three scorecards through the completed rounds when the roof fell in.

The knockout blow was a crunching straight right hand that followed a left that just missed. Magsayo landed another right as Ceja was falling, but that was superfluous as Ceja was out cold before he hit the canvas.

In the pay-per-view lid-lifter, undefeated Phoenix featherweight Carlos Castro (27-0, 12 KOs) exploited his height and reach advantages to put away Colombia’s spunky Oscar Escandon. Referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the contest at the 1:08 mark of the tenth and final round after Escandon took a knee after beating the count, a sign he was disoriented.

Escandon came out like gangbusters and wobbled Castro with a hard left at the bell ending the opening round. But Castro did well when he was able to keep the fight at a distance and gradually assumed control. Castro knocked Escandon down with a chopping right hand in the seventh, but replays showed the Columbian was off-balance and the knockdown was expunged.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 8-round featherweight match, Angel Contreras of Monterrey, Mexico, upset previously unbeaten John Dato of the Philippines, winning a unanimous decision. The judges had it 78-73 and 78-74 twice. Contreras improved to 11-4-2. Dato was 14-0-1 heading in.

Indianapolis lightweight Frank Martin improved to 14-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over Quincy, Massachusetts veteran Ryan Kielczewski (30-6). Martin won every round on all three scorecards, but Kielczewski retained his distinction of having never been stopped.

Steven Torres, a 23-year-old, six-foot-seven heavyweight from Reading, Pennsylvania, advanced to 5-0 (5) with a first round demolition of roly-poly Maine campaigner Justin Rolfe. Torres is trained by former fringe heavyweight contender Travis Kauffman. This bout went on before the doors to the arena were opened even though there were several people with Steven Torres T-shirts milling outside.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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