WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter has faced a number of unique opponents over the years from Adrien Broner to Keith Thurman to Danny Garcia, Kell Brook and many more. But his next opponent could be a tricky foe to defeat.
Porter is currently scheduled to face Yordenis Ugas on March 9 in the main event of a PBC on Fox card in his first title defense since winning the belt last year. Ugas, the mandatory challenger to Porter's title, has won his last eight fights, all at welterweight and is coming into the bout with plenty of confidence and momentum to spare.
In an exclusive interview with Fightful, Porter spoke about Ugas' abilities and what makes him a potentially dangerous opponent. Although Ugas comes from the heralded Cuban amateur boxing system, but is not built like your prototypical Cuban boxer. Ugas is taller than Porter and hits a lot harder than what his sub-50 percent knockout rate may indicate.
“It’s hard to say. He is a Cuban fighter, but he doesn’t have the traditional Cuban style. However, he has the Cuban mentality and I know that mentality. They don’t waver from anything. They stay very consistent at what they do and they’re very good at what they do. He’s very good at the basic and fundamental things in boxing. He’s not going to waver from that. I’m not going to be able to get him out of position too often and I’m not going to be able to have my way with him the way I have been able to in the past with a lot of different fighters. I think that’s the number one thing for me, to figure out how to get him uncomfortable and get him to move away from the things that he does well and move more into the things that I need him to do in the ring,” Porter said.
When it comes to what kind of fight Porter is expecting to get out of Ugas, the two-time world champion told Fightful that he thinks it will be a mix between a chess match and a slugfest. Porter added that he believes the styles clash that will be present when the two meet in the ring will make for an exciting fight.
“I think it’s going to be both. A lot of people expect it to be a rough, inside fight. I don’t think it’s going to be directly inside, but there’s definitely going to be moments where I’m going to take the fight to him. I think that he is the kind of fighter that is going to push forward and get you against the ropes and bang the body. With that being said, I think he’s going to be an aggressive fighter so for me, it’s going to be that chess match with me trying to figure out when to get in and when to get out, when to be aggressive, when to use my defense, so on and so forth. I think it’s going to be a really good fight. I think styles make fights and this has the makings of it being a really good fight," Porter said.
The fight between Porter and Ugas will headline a PBC on Fox card from the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California on March 9. Fightful's extensive interview with Porter in which he talked on a number of different topics, including potentially headlining a pay-per-view card in the future.
