By: Hans Themistode
Though Errol Spence Jr eventually knocked out Yordenis Ugas and cut his WBA welterweight championship short, the adamant Cuban gave Spence Jr all he could handle.
As the crowd of nearly 40,000 thousand cheered the unifying list above, they remained motionless with their hands over their mouths as Ugas staggered his body in the fourth round. To preface the change in momentum, Ugas landed with a hand that appeared to lock up Spence Jr. Soon after, Ugas connected with an inner upper line, causing Spence Jr.’s mouth. fly halfway through the round.
Under normal circumstances, the referee will allow both fighters to continue fighting if they are in an exchange. However, when the match is in a lull, the umpire will pause their fight and allow the fighter to take back their mouthpiece. However, Spence Jr. seems to have forgotten the rules.
The moment the Dallas product’s mouthpiece popped open, he immediately stopped defending himself and tried to restore it. However, Ugas made the most of it, combining three punches. The final blow, a straight right hand strike, pushed Spence Jr. into the wire.
This is not the first time Spence Jr has had an awkward reaction to losing his stethoscope. In December 2020, during a game against Danny Garcia, the Philadelphia-born player rocked Spence Jr., causing him to spit out his mouth. Once again, Spence Jr stopped defending himself and went to find his mouthpiece, allowing Garcia to take advantage.
With his mouthguard unable to keep, Spence Jr admitted that it was time to look for a better one.
“I have to have a new mouthpiece,” Spence Jr told a group of reporters with a laugh. “My mouthpiece was messed up. I have to get a new mouthpiece. It didn’t stick in my mouth at all. I had to bite hard to get it in my mouth. It was my fault.”
When Spence Jr initially lost his voice to Garcia, it happened late in the 11th round. Although Garcia tried to keep track as Spence Jr looked down, the bell rang to signal the end of the round. Against Ugas, however, there’s still plenty of time left on the clock.
As the mighty male player staggered across the ring and onto the ropes, collective gasps could be heard from his hometown fans. While Spence Jr initially revealed that referee Laurence Cole shouted “break” before he went to find his mouthpiece, he refused to blame the veteran umpire for his actions. Instead, Spence Jr held himself accountable for his own beheading move.
“It was a rookie mistake for me to go find my stethoscope and then I got punched like that three times. That was my mistake because you have to protect yourself all the time. ”
