The unbridled joy emanating from Yordenis Ugas is understandable.
The WBA (Super) welterweight champion being named the late replacement for Errol Spence Jr. — due to a retinal tear — to fight legend Manny Pacquiao on Aug. 21 presents the Cuban boxer with his biggest bout to date. So, there’s reason to be excited.
But even when the 35-year-old boxer isn’t in the ring fighting, he’s scrapping out of it as part of an ongoing battle against the dictatorship running his home country and trying to spark freedom for the people living in it.
That has been a staple of Ugas’ life, with constant reminders clinging to his side.
On Thursday, Ugas took to his Twitter account to wish his mother a happy birthday. As much as the message was filled with warmth and love, it served as a haunting dose of their current harsh reality as well.
After winning the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics, Ugas defected from Cuba in 2010, embarking on a journey from Mexico to Miami, where he relocated and launched his professional boxing career.
That decision paved the way for Ugas to be separated from his mother for nine years, as he explained in the tweet.
“It was the most difficult thing I ever had to do in my life,” Ugas told DAZN News on Thursday about leaving his mother behind in Cuba. “Nine years without seeing my family, not just my mom. It was so difficult because I went looking to become the world champion and trying to be free more than anything."
Through the years, Ugas faced his fair share of challenges with back-to-back losses to Emmanuel Robles and Amir Imam in 2014 sparking more than a two-year absence from boxing before rededicating himself to the sport with iconic Cuban trainer Ismael Salas by his side. Linking with Salas proved prudent as Ugas has gone 11-1 since, including a narrow split-decision loss to Shawn Porter in a March 2019 fight that many felt like the Cuban fighter did enough to win. Though he wouldn’t win the world title in that fight, Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs) did claim the WBA welterweight world championship by defeating Abel Ramos in a split decision of his own in September.
Still, by then a recurring pain had revisited, as a reunion with his mom after nine long years without seeing her proved to be brief.
The year 2020 struck and COVID-19 flipped the world as we all knew it upside down, creating distance between Ugas and his family in Cuba once again.
“Now, not seeing them because of the pandemic, it’s something that I never thought it was going to happen again,” Ugas said. “So, it’s kind of a nightmare revisited but we are making the most of it and trying to see when we’re going to see each other again.”
So, the fight continues. If anything, the bout against Pacquiao next Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is a bout within Ugas’ greater fight.
“My mom is always on my mind, my family is always on my mind,” Ugas said. “In the end, I’m fighting not just for her, not just for my family but for the Cuban people who are fighting for their freedom. It’s a big responsibility but at the same time it’s something that I’m very proud of. They’re always on my mind while preparing for Pacquiao, for sure.”
That “big responsibility” is one that Ugas doesn’t shy away from, either. He’s active lending his voice and efforts to spark change and freedom for Cuba.
And he's doing this despite other challenges in his life that he embraces and is outspoken about as well.
Fighting through life’s intertwining of love, pain and challenges is an affirmation of who Ugas is, with perhaps the crescendo coming Aug. 21 and thereafter for him, his family and Cuba.
“I’m fighting for my legacy, I’m fighting for my country, I’m fighting for my family,” Ugas said, “and that’s the most important thing right now.”