It appears another apple has fallen from the welterweight tree.
Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com reported today that Keith Thurman and Yordenius Ugas are likely to face each other for the interim WBC welterweight title. Though no date has been given, it is presumed to occur at the end of August.
This would end yet another elongated hiatus from the sport of boxing for Keith Thurman, who hasn't fought since February 5th, 2022, when he picked up a twelve-round unanimous decision over Mario Barrios. Prior to that, Thurman's last fight was a split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao, on July 20th, 2019. Despite being one of the most accomplished fighters of his generation - Thurman has seen injuries derail a potential hall-of-fame career to the point in which he gets forgotten somewhat amongst the greats of his time period.
Yordenis Ugas, a 2008 Olympian, defeated Manny Pacquiao to win the WBA welterweight title, which he lost last year to Errol Spence Jr., who stopped Ugas in the tenth round of a twelve-round prizefight.
Since that loss, Ugas has yet to return to the ring.
This is yet another piece of the landscape unfolding at welterweight, which is a division that has been stuck in the mud until WBA, WBC, and IBF welterweight world champion, Errol Spence Jr., and WBO welterweight champion, Terence Crawford, scheduled their bout for July 29th, on Showtime pay-per-view. Seemingly many of the top welterweights were waiting around to see if they could land a big fight - if that undisputed welterweight fight fell through yet again.
This weekend, July 8th, we will see two big welterweight bouts, as WBA secondary welterweight champion, Eimantas Stanionis will make his first world title defense against Golden Boy Promotions' Vergil Ortiz Jr., on a DAZN telecast. Meanwhile, Jaron "Boots" Ennis will make his first defense of his IBF interim welterweight title, when he faces Roiman Villa in a twelve-round main event.
Given that after Spence versus Crawford, at least one of the world titles will be vacated, more than likely, these names will be in the mix for the title.
Other interesting and relevant fighters without fights include Cody Crowley, Rashidi Ellis, Abel Ramos, and Mario Barrios. It appears that if Thurman and Ugas do fight that'd be the next piece to the unfolding welterweight puzzle.
