Rumors have tied some really nice scraps to Showtime’s August 21st Manny Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence, PPV, including Sebastian Fundora vs. Sergio Garcia and Jamal James vs. Radzhab Butaev. If those are actually in the works, however, they’ll be on the prelims. ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reports that Yordenis Ugas will defend his WBA “super” welterweight title against 13th-ranked Fabian Maidana in the PPV co-feature, while Victor Ortiz will square off with Robert Guerrero one fight prior.
The main card opens with the previously revealed featherweight clash between Mark Magsayo and Julio Ceja.
Ugas (26-4, 12 KO) claimed the “world” title in September 2020 with a wider-than-on-paper split decision over Abel Ramos. After a rare spasm of respectability, the WBA elevated him to “super” champ over the inactive Pacquiao and declined to overrule themselves when “Pac-Man” signed on to face Spence.
Maidana (18-1, 13 KO), brother of the great Marcos, saw his momentum blunted by a 2019 unanimous decision loss to former title challenger Jaider Parra in his native Argentina. He’s since won two straight, knocking out Ramses Agaton on the Spence-Porter undercard and ending a long layoff with a decision over Carlos Daniel Cordoba in April.
Before you ask, those are the Victor Ortiz (32-6-3, 25 KO) and Robert Guerrero (36-6-1, 20 KO) you’re thinking of. “Vicious” hasn’t fought since a 2018 draw with Devon Alexander, Guerrero since a November 2019 decision over Gerald Thomas. Both are well, well past it, but at least they tend to put on fun fights.