Errol Spence Jr. stops Yordenis Ugas in 10th to unify titles, challenges Terence Crawford next

12:45 a.m. ET

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  Mike Coppinger ESPN

ARLINGTON, Texas — Errol Spence Jr. was dazed as he peered around the ring looking for his mouthpiece.

Yordenis Ugas let it fly on Saturday after hitting a brutal right hand in Round 6 before referee Laurence Cole slowly stopped the action for Spence to retrieve. That’s when Ugas hit with a left hand, followed by a right that sent the distracted Spence racing into the ropes in what could be called a knockdown.

The series of events only seemed to reinvigorate Spence, who fought for the third time in four fights in front of his hometown fans at AT&T Stadium. He began attacking far more aggressively the following round and took control of the fight after knocking Ugas over with a left uppercut. The systematic punches he delivered to Ugas slowly but surely shut the Cuban boxer’s right eye before the ringside doctor advised Cole to stop the fight at 1:44 of round 10.

Punch stats

Ugas (27-5, 22 KOs) was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas to have his right eye checked. Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) was up on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 88-82, 88-83, and 88-82. Two judges scored the eighth round 10-8 for Spence.

With the win, Spence added Ugas’ WBA welterweight title along with the WBC and IBF titles he already owned. Now all Spence needs is Terence Crawford’s WBO title to become the undisputed 147-pound champion.

“Everyone knows who I want next; I want Terence Crawford next,” said Spence, ESPN’s No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer. “This is the fight I want; this is the fight everyone else wants. Terence, I’ve come for that damn belt.”

Spence and Crawford have orbited each other for years but have never come close to finalizing a deal for one of boxing’s biggest potential fights. Crawford’s victory over Shawn Porter in November was the final fight of his long-term contract with Top Rank, an advertising company that rarely does business with PBC, which promotes Spence’s struggles.

Now that Crawford is a freelance advertising agent, the biggest hurdle to the matchup has been removed, and it looks like a real possibility later this year.

“Congratulations great fight now is the real fight,” Crawford tweeted to Spence. “No more talk, no more curbs, let’s go!”

The superfight with Crawford appeared to slip Spence midway through the fight. Ugas, 35, continued to unload Spence in round 6 after crashing into the ropes as the favorite absorbed the penalty. Cole finally stopped the fight this time, although there was no pause in the action. The delay seemed to allow Spence, 32, to recover; He began firing punches at Ugas after the fight resumed.

“I thought the referee said ‘stop,’ so I stopped,” said Spence, who scored his first goal since his IBF title win over Kell Brook in May 2017. “And then he hit me with three or four shots… It’s my fault. That was a rookie mistake. You should always protect yourself, and I didn’t do that. I wasn’t on my feet. I turned and looked at my mouthpiece and he hit me.”

The sixth round was Ugas’ last stand. Spence, who was mostly rear foot boxing for the first half of the fight, now attacked with unrelenting pressure. Customization made all the difference. ESPN’s No. 2 welterweight took aim at Uga’s midsection, and it paid off as his activity plummeted.

Of the 216 punches Spence landed, 70 hit the body, according to CompuBox. Spence threw 8 hard-fighting 110 punches in a fiery round and connected with 46.

Ugas struggled with Spence on the inside, but his right eye continued to swell until he could no longer see. He was injured again in round 8 after a series of gunshots before Cole stopped the fight to allow the doctor to examine Ugas. After almost a minute, the action resumed. This time Ugas got the respite.

“I’m sad; I trained really hard for this fight,” Ugas, ESPN’s No. 3 welterweight division, said through a translator. “All my respects to Errol Spence. He’s a great champion. … The referee stopped the fight but I wanted to continue to the end. I definitely had a chance to win the fight in the sixth round but he did recovered well.”

In a twist, it was Spence’s left eye that led to this matchup in the first place. The 32-year-old was due to meet the legendary Manny Pacquiao in August but Spence pulled out of the fight after a doctor diagnosed him with a retinal detachment.

Spence underwent speedy surgery when Ugas stepped in with 11 days’ notice for the life-changing opportunity. Already a champion, Ugas had dropped a controversial decision to Porter in a title fight earlier in his career, but this was a chance to establish himself as one of boxing’s elite.

Ugas mastered the opportunity with a dominant decision win in an upset, retiring Pacquiao. Spence’s torch fight vanished like a puff of smoke, but another opportunity presented itself.

After quickly recovering from surgery, Spence eschewed the routine tuneup fight and headed straight for the title unification with Ugas. The fight was Spence’s fourth straight pay-per-view fight and the third at the Dallas Cowboys’ home turf in his last four fights (reported attendance of 39,946).

“I had no doubts at all. I believe in myself 100 percent,” Spence said. “…I didn’t want to have a tuneup fight or fight someone I know I can beat. I wanted someone who would bring out the best in me and I knew Ugas would bring out the best in me.”

Once again, Spence proved after a serious injury that he remains one of the top fighters in all of boxing. After defeating Porter in one of the best action fights of 2019, he was involved in a devastating car accident a month later in October.

After losing multiple teeth and a hospital stay, Spence returned to retain his titles in December 2020 with a decision win over Danny Garcia. And now he’s pulled off another impressive win over one of the top welterweights in the world in his first fight after eye surgery.

All that’s left for Spence at welterweight of course is a long-awaited meeting with Crawford.