Manny Pacquiao Conqueror Ordered to Defend His Title Against Eimantas Stanionis

Vanquishing Manny Pacquiao wasn’t enough for Yordenis Ugas to continue being the WBA welterweight world champion. The Cuban star will now have to defend his belt shortly before going for the WBA unification clash. While fans have often accused boxing of having allotted too many titles, World Boxing Association seems to have taken some necessary steps to cut its number of champions.

Per reports, WBA announced two mandatory title fights to settle one champion under their name.

As of now, Yordenis Ugas holds the WBA Super 147 lbs belt and Jamal James has the Regular title. But the recent plans cite WBA to have only one welterweight champion in the future. Thus, both the current titlists will reportedly defend their belts against mandatory challengers. After that, the winners will collide in a unification fight.

 Badlefthook also claimed that Ugas will defend his title against Eimantas Stanionis by January 2020. Also, Jamal James will have to put his belt at stake against Radzhab Butaev in the next two months. The winners of these two bouts will clash somewhere around March 2022.

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This static plan may allure several fans, However, it can also curb a few fantasy fights from happening, including the potential rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Yordenis Ugas. While ‘Pac-Man’ had desired for the bout, it doesn’t seem on the cards.

Yordenis Ugas needs to become the sole WBA champion before going for the other titles

Per WBA’s current plans, Ugas cannot afford to overlook his opponents from the WBA stable at least before March. If he wants to unify the world titles, he will first have to become the sole WBA champion.

If he is successful, he can try to hunt for a showdown against WBC-IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. or the winner of the Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter fight. However, following the WBA’s unique orders, things around the championship scene could be way different come March 2022.

What do you make of WBA’s plans?

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