Errol Spence Jr. celebrates after defeating Yordenis Ugas at AT&T Stadium on April 16, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Getty Images via AFP)
LOS ANGELES – Yordenis Ugas’s right eye socket was fractured in his 10th-round technical knockout loss to Errol Spence in Texas, the Cuban fighter said Sunday.
“I have a fracture in my eye and in the next few days the doctors will say how they will treat it,” Ugas said in an Instagram post.
“I spent all morning in a hospital and I write these words with only one eye, the other one is still closed.”
Referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight in the 10th round on the advice of the ringside doctor because Ugas’s right eye was swollen shut.
The Cuban, who fell to 27-5 with 22 wins inside the distance, had fought on for three rounds after the swelling began in the wake of a left uppercut from Spence in the seventh round.
“I couldn’t see from the eye, but I wanted to keep going to the end,” Ugas said in an in-ring interview after the bout at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington.
ESPN reported that Ugas did not require emergency surgery, and would be re-examined after the swelling subsides to determine if further medical intervention is needed.
Unbeaten Spence improved to 28-0 with 22 knockouts with the victory, adding Ugas’s World Boxing Association welterweight title to his own World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation belts.