Yordenis Ugas was taken to hospital following his fight with Errol Spence after the Cuban was left with one eye firmly closed.
Other than for brief moments in the first half of the fight, Ugas was dominated by his fellow welterweight world champion on Saturday night before the referee stopped the fight in the 10th round. The official had asked the ringside doctor to inspect Ugas' right eye for the second time - and on this occasion the bout was stopped.
Ugas was naturally taken to hospital to have his injury examined after insisting he wanted to hear the final bell. "I feel sad," he said. "I trained really hard for this fight. All my respect to Errol Spence, he’s a great champion. I’m just sad about what happened tonight. The referee stopped the fight, but I wanted to keep going to the end. I definitely had a chance to win the fight in the sixth round, but he recuperated well. Congratulations to him and his team."
Ugas knocked Spence's mouthpiece out in the sixth round and was troubled to the body in the ninth, but was otherwise in control of the fight. After the fight, Spence made it clear that he wants to take on Terence Crawford in his next fight.
"Everybody knows who I want next," he said. "I want Terence Crawford. That’s the fight that I want. That’s the fight everybody else wants. Like I said, I’m going to get these straps then go over there and take his too. Terence I’m coming for that belt." Crawford, now a promotional free agent, verbally agreed to the fight on social media.
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Ugas enjoyed success in the third round before Spence adjusted and began to take over. "When the fight first started I was being impatient," he added. "I didn't have my rhythm and my range, I was throwing looping shots and trying to throw hard shots to try and catch him.
"In the later rounds I started setting my shots up and placing my shots and not throwing hard but letting them go. I was catching him a lot and breaking him down. I make adjustments on the fly and when things aren't going right that's what I do. I was just trying different things and the things that were working I used more."
