Yordenis Ugas is only the latest in a long line of successful boxers from the Caribbean.
The Cuban teamed up with one of the greatest of all time from the region – Felix “Tito” Trinidad – on Monday to promote his pay-per-view title-unification bout against Errol Spence Jr. on April 16 at AT&T Stadium outside Dallas.
“I remember watching Felix when I was a teenager and he fought against De La Hoya,” said Ugas, referring to the Puerto Rican’s majority-decision victory over his American rival in 1999. “Everyone in Cuba was talking about it. That fight really blew my mind. It was amazing to watch Felix go toe-to-toe with Oscar.
“To see Felix achieve something so incredible was a great inspiration.”
Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) has had his own big victories, the biggest coming when he stepped in on short notice to outpoint 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao and win the WBA welterweight belt last August.
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) figures to be a stiffer challenge but Trinidad, for one, likes Ugas’ chances. He described how he believes the fight will play out:
“When I watched the Manny Pacquiao fight, I watched Ugas represent Cuba in an amazing way. I believe that Ugas can emulate what he did against Pacquiao in the fight against Spence. His speed and precision is going to wow the crowd in this fight.
“This is going to be a fight of a champion against a champion. When I fought De La Hoya, I knew that I had to go all out and couldn’t leave anything in the tank. I believe in Ugas, and he’s going to make us all proud.
“Errol is a rangy southpaw. Instead of trying to go up against their right hand, I’d let a southpaw throw their biggest shot and dodge it, so that I could deliver my most powerful shot. I’d tell Ugas to let Spence throw that left hand and dodge it.”
He went on:
“Ugas’ best attributes are similar to mine. It’s the conditioning and the mentality. He brings what he works on in training and uses it in the fight so well. He brings that preparation into the ring just like I used to. It makes me believe in him, and I know that he’s going to do well.
“I would tell Ugas to stay close and be on offense. Don’t let Spence come to you instead. Right jab and left uppercut is the combination that is going to work best for him.”
Trinidad obviously has a high opinion of Ugas. And Ugas believes in himself.
“I’m a competitor, I would have put my best foot forward in any decade,” he said. “I would have loved to fight Trinidad and the other fighters of his era. I could have won, I could have lost, but I would have loved to face those challenges.”