July 20 is shaping up to be the biggest day of the year so far for the sport of boxing. As if the opportunity to see Manny Pacquiao vs Keith Thurman is not enough, PBC has stacked the card with two other great welterweight matchups that have some title implications. So, while Pacquiao/Thurman is the biggest named fight of the evening, it is quite possible that it is may does not end up being the most entertaining fight of the evening.
Omar Figueroa Jr. vs Yordenis Ugas
Omar Figueroa Jr. and Yordenis Ugas are facing each other on the undercard in a WBC eliminator for the winner of the Shawn Porter/Errol Spence Jr. fight. This gets interesting because many believe that Yordenis Ugas (23-4, 11 KO), beat Shawn Porter in their matchup earlier this year. Shawn Porter won that fight by split decision, setting him up for the fight versus Spence Jr.
Prior to the loss the Porter, Yordenis Ugas was on 8 fight win streak, working his way up the rankings to become themandatory challenger for Shawn Porter. While Ugas seemed to neutralize Porter in their matchup, he didn’t do enough offensively to make many of the 12 very close rounds swing his way. Ugas is clearly upset that he lost his shot for a title, and will come out with a chip on his shoulder July 20 versus Omar Figueroa Jr.
Omar Figueroa Jr. is no easy feat though. In fact, he’s the opposite… Undefeated. 29-year-old Omar Figueroa Jr. has a record of 28-0-1 with notable wins versus Robert Guerrero and Ricky Burns. Figueroa Jr. is a former WBC lightweight world champion who knows what its like to have a belt and wants a chance at a belt in the welterweight division.
Figueroa’s last fight was a slugfest versus John Molina Jr (who will also be fighting on this undercard). Figueroa won this fight by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 respectively. While it wasn’t Figueroa’s best showing, he reports that he hurt his hand in the 3rd round, restricting his abilities to fight the way he wanted.
Yordenis Ugas wants another shot at a title and the opportunity to avenge his loss versus Shawn Porter. Omar Figueroa is an undefeated fighter who refuses to let the “-0” go. Something has got to give.
Sergey Lipinets vs John Molina Jr.
Former world champion Sergey Lipinets will take on the always entertaining veteran warrior John Molina Jr. in a 10-round match.
Lipinets, 30 years old, is 15-1 with 11 knockouts. He is a former titleholder at 140, whose sole loss came to pound-for-pound ranked boxer Mikey Garcia. After this loss, Lipinets moved up to 147, where he most recently retired former 2 division world champion Lamont Peterson after his corner stop the fight 1 second into round number 10. Lipinets is currently ranked #4 by the WBO, #7 by the IBF, #3 by the WBC and #11 by the WBA.
While John Molina Jr. is not ranked top 10 by any of boxing’s major sanctioning bodies, he is a dangerous fighter who must be respected. Molina Jr. is 30-8 with 24 knockouts. At 36 years old, he is a veteran who has been in the ring with just about everybody, including Adrien Broner, Terence Crawford, Humberto Soto, and Lucas Matthysse. Most recently, he lost a unanimous decision to Omar Figueroa Jr., but this was a controversial decision, and Molina Jr. looked powerful and aggressive, despite the loss. A win versus Sergey Lipinets should get Molina Jr. inside of those top 10 rankings.
Flip the page for Mikey Garcia speaking on the undercard.