CLOSE CALL
Sean Nam sees Porter change styles to hold off Ugas
IN a coin-toss affair, Akron, Ohio’s
Shawn Porter narrowly — and in more ways than one — held onto his WBC welterweight title via split decision over Santiago de Cuba, Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas at the Dignity Health Sports Park.
Judges Steve Morrow (116-112) and Max Deluca (115-113) saw Porter winning, while Zachary Young (117111) scored for Ugas. A good case could be made for either fighter; that there seemed to be as much posturing as there were punches thrown made the fight especially difficult to score. Ugas, disgusted at the verdict, left the ring in a huff.
It was an uncharacteristic performance for Porter, who apparently decided to abandon the mauling, grappling, and bull-rushing tactics that make up his stock-in-trade and that have earned him his best wins. Against the counterpunching Ugas, Porter abandoned his brutish ways and decided to play cutie, going tit-for-tat with feints and twiddling footwork. For the most part, Ugas worked behind a jab and countered hard to the body, while Porter, when he felt like it, lunged in with lead rights.
A slight controversy arose when referee Jack Reiss called a slip in the 12th and last round after Ugas threw a right hand that caught Porter on the glove and the back of his head, sending him to the canvas. Had it have been called a knockdown, Ugas would have at least escaped with a split draw.
In another uncharacteristic move, Porter had nearly missed weight the day before and needed to cut his locks to ensure that he would not be stripped of his title. If cutting weight contributed to his diminished output, Porter did not admit it.
“The crowd was expecting a big brawl, but that’s not the way this fight needed to go tonight,” Porter said. “Tonight the foot movement was working and it made Ugas have to reset.”
In a losing effort, Ugas proved he belonged with the top welterweights. Porter, for his part, should now seek a unification with the other PBC beltholders, against either Keith Thurman or Errol Spence Jnr.
On this TGB Promotions undercard, Mexican-american Abel Ramos, of Casa Grande, Arizona, overcame a knockdown in the second round to earn a unanimous decision over rugged Francisco Santana, of Santa Barbara, California, in a heated battle of welterweights (set for 10).
Scores read 98-92 (Lou Moret), 97-92 (Fernando Villarreal), and 95-94 (Alejandro Rochin).
Early on, Ramos worked behind a crisp jab while Santana tried to charge his way inside. In round two, Santana caught Ramos with a left hook during an exchange and sent him to the canvas. Ramos would answer with a ripping right uppercut in the seventh round that wobbled Santana badly. Jerry Cantu refereed.
Highly-regarded Nigerian heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba did not disappoint when he made short work of ageing trial horse Amir Mansour in two rounds.
In the first Ajagba, who lives and trains in Stafford, Texas, sent Mansour to the canvas twice, the first courtesy of the straight right hand and the second via the jab. Ajagba continued to batter the 46-year-old Wilmington, Delaware southpaw in the second and during the following break Mansour declined to come out of his corner, leading referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight.
La Vega, Dominican Republic’s Juan Payano battered rising prospect Damien Vasquez, of Thornton, Colorado en route to an eight-round unanimous decision in a clash of southpaw bantamweights.
Judges Edward Hernandez Sr and Young scored it 80-71, while Rochin had it 79-73.
It was a rude awakening for Vasquez, who trains out of Las Vegas, and an utter matchmaking failure on the part of his handlers. Payano, 34, might be on the decline but he is certainly no ‘stiff’ — his only losses have come against Naoya Inoue and Rau’shee Warren (in the rematch).
From the get-go Payano could not miss and in the sixth he began pummelling the helpless Vasquez as referee Rudy Barragan began to issue warnings to the prospect that he would stop the fight.
Lithuanian prospect Eimantas Stanionis bullied his way to an eightround unanimous decision over Anasco, Puerto Rico’s Samuel Figueroa via identical scores of 80-72 (Villarreal, Rochin and Tony Crebs).
Figueroa had some success counterpunching midway through the fight, but was not truly able to dent the durable, Houston-based Stanionis. Edward Collantes refereed.
THE VERDICT Porter keeps himself in the mix for big paydays at 147lbs.