Mario Barrios finally got his big victory.
The 28-year-old from San Antonio, who came up short against Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman in back-to-back fights in 2021 and last year, defeated former champ Yordenis Ugas by a unanimous decision in a 12-round bout between welterweight contenders on the Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo card Saturday in Las Vegas.
The official scores were 118-107, 118-107 and 117-108. Boxing Junkie also scored it 117-108 for Barrios, nine rounds to three
Barrios (28-2, 18 KOs) put Ugas (27-6, 12 KOs) down twice, once with a jab in Round 2 and again with a left in Round 12. However, it was his technical ability – particularly his left jab – that earned him the victory.
The Texan outboxed and outworked the 37-year-old Ugas, who was competitive and had some good moments but couldn’t keep pace with his younger opponent.
The jab also closed Ugas’ right eye, the same eye that Errol Spence Jr. damaged in April of last year. The injury evidently hampered the Cuban down the stretch, when Barrios seemed to pull away on the cards.
The ring doctor checked the eye three times but ultimately allowed Ugas to finish the fight, which the brave former champion was determined to do.
Ugas, apparently exhausted, was docked a point for intentionally spitting out his mouth piece in the final round.
Barrios has now won back-to-back fights since the Thurman fight, which was his debut as a full-fledged 147-pounder. He knocked out Jovanie Santiago in eight rounds in February.
Ugas has lost his last two fights, a 10th-round knockout against Spence and now a one-sided decision to Barrios 17 months later. It will be difficult for him to climb back into title contention at his age and with the recurring eye problem.