Shawn Porter retained the WBC Welterweight title with a razor thin 12-round split decision over Yordenis Ugas at the Dignity Healthy Sports Park in Carson, California.

It was a close fight that saw many rounds with Porter trying to dive in and create offense, yet Ugas would land the cleaner punches.  It seemed that Ugas had the advantage, although punch stats showed a 144-128 advantage for Porter.

Porter, 146.8 lbs of Akron, OH won by scores of 116-112 and 115-113.  Ugas, 146.5 lbs of Santo de Cuba, CUB won a card 117-111.

Porter is 30-2-1.  Ugas is 23-4.

“The crowd was expecting a big brawl, but that’s not the way this fight needed to go tonight,” said Porter. “The style that we used left the fight close. As the clock ticks, you have to do what’s working. Tonight the foot movement was working and it made Ugas have to reset.”

“I showed tonight that I belong with the elite fighters at welterweight,” said Ugas. “All I can say is that I’m ready to fight any of the top names in the division. I’ll be back.”

“I was on my toes all night,” said Porter. “I was very focused the entire fight and just listening to my corner. We wanted to out box him and eventually turn it on and press him. But my dad did not think that was the smartest way to win the fight. We fought this way for 12 rounds and no one has ever seen that from me before.”

“There’s no doubt about it, I was robbed tonight,” said Ugas. “After the first round I figured him out and dominated the fight. He had no answer when I was pushing him back. I dominated the fight in my opinion.”

“We fought a good smart fight tonight,” said Porter. “I was consistent and I thought we won a majority of the rounds. We got the win, we’re still champion and we’re looking forward to what is next.”

Abel Ramos had to survive a knockdown to comeback and win a 10-round unanimous decision over Francisco Santana in a welterweight fight.

At the end of round two, Santana dropped Ramos with a hard left hook.

Ramos began to bleed from his nose in round six.  Ramis came on in the 2nd half of the fight and took most of the rounds down the stretch.

Ramos, 146.5 lbs of Casa Grande , AZ won by scores of 98-92, 97-92 and 95-94 to raise his record to 24-3-2.  Santana, 146.5 lbs of Santa Barbra, CA is 25-7-1.

Ramos landed 268-934 punches.  Santana was 221-800.

“He caught me on a flash knockdown in the second round,” said Ramos. “I didn’t see the punch coming and he caught me a little bit off balance. As soon as I got up, I was good.”

“I was very surprised by the scorecards,” said Santana. “I thought I did enough to win. It was very competitive but I was landing more significant punches. I knew he was a warrior who would come back to fight after the knockdown. I don’t know what else to do at this point, but I’ll always keep my head held high.”

“I thought I won the fight,” said Ramos. “I landed more punches. I felt like I was landing all night and I was doing good clean work throughout the fight.”

Efe Ajagba stopped Amir Mansour after two rounds of their scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout.

Ajagba dropped Mansour twice in the 1st round.  the initial one came from a hard right, and the second came moments later from a left hook.  Ajagba continued to land power shots and the fight was stopped after the 2nd frame.

Ajagba, 240 lbs of Nigeria is 9-0 with eight knockouts.  Mansour, 225 lbs of Salem, NJ is 23-4-1.

“I’ve never fought a southpaw in the pros before,” said Ajagba. “Ronnie Shields has taught me a lot and given me the plan on how to fight a southpaw and how to use my right hand against them.”

“I want to be the best heavyweight in the world,” said Ajagba. “That’s my dream. I’m going to go home and work hard and prepare for the next fight.”

Juan Carlos Payano won an eight-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Damien Vazquez in a bantamweight bout.

In round four, Payano was cut under his right eye. The next round he was cut on his left cheek ares. In round six, Vazquez was wobbled and cut over his right eye.

Payano, 117.8 lbs of Le Vega, DR won by scores of 80-71 twice, and 79-73 and is now 21-2. Vazquez, 117.6 lbs of Thronton, CO is 14-1.

Eimmantas Stanionis won a eight-round unanimous decision over Samuel Figueroa in a welterweight fight.

Stanionis, 149.2 lbs of Lithuania, won by scores 80-72 on all cards, and is now 8-0. Figueroa, 149.4 lbs of Maygeliz, PR is 11-2. Stanionis outlanded Figueroa 256-146.

Follow all the action as Shawn Porter defends the WBC Welterweight title against Yordenis Ugas.  The action kicks off at 8 PM with two fights featuring Heavyweight Efe Ajagba taking on Amir Mansour.  Abel Ramos battles Francisco Santana in a welterweight clash

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Round 1: Right from Porter..Jab from Ugas..Body shot from Porter…Jab from Ugas

Round 2 Jab from Ugas..Good right from Porter..Ugas lands a body shot..Counter right from Porter..Roght from Ugas..

Round 3 Jab from Porter..Body shot from Ugas,.Right from Porter..Body shot from Ugas..Jab..left.

Round 4 Jab to body from Ugas..Left hook..

Round 5 Jab from Porter..Jab..Right from Ugas..Good right..Hard right..Uppercut..Right from Porter..Body shot from Ugas.

Round 6 Counter right from Porter,,Right…Right..Jab from Ugas..

Round 7 Counter right from Ugas..Porter gets in a right..Right from Ugas..

Round 8 Right from Porter..Right from Ugas..Left from Porter.2 rights from Ugas..

Round 9 Combination from Porter..Counter left and right..Left from Ugas..Jab from Porter

Round 10 Left from Porter..Jab..Right over the top..Good right..Porter cut over his right eye

Round 11 Ugas lands a left and right..Big jab from Porter

Round 12 Right from Ugas

116-112 Porter…117-111 Ugas…..115-113 Porter

Round 1  Ramos lands a jab..Body shot from Santana..Left..

Round 2 Right from Santana..Combination..Right from Ramos..2 counters from Santana..another counter..Big right from Ramos….HUGE LEFT AND DOWN GOES RAMOS..

Round 3  Santana lands a right and left hook to body..Right from Ramos..Right…Right..Hard right..Right hand and lefy hook from Santana..

Round 4  Ramos lands a right to body and left…

Round 5  Good combination from Ramos

Round 6 Blood from the nose of Ramos..2 Rights from Ramos..Left from Santana..Uppercuts from Ramos..Body shot from Santana

Round 7 Jab from Ramos..Right..Body shots..Body shot..Uppercut..left to body from Santana..Left to body from Ramos..Hard flurry rocks Santana..Big left

Round 8 Hard counter from Santana..1-2 from Ramos..

Round 9 Left from Ramos..Good uppercut..

Round 10  Ramos lands a hard combination..Good right..Ripping hooks..

Round 1 Right from Ajagba..HARD RIGHT AND DOWN GOES MANSOUR…LEFT AND DOWN GOES MANSOUR..

Round 2 Right from Ajagba…Left From Mansour…Right from Ajagba…hard right

FIGHT STOPPED IN THE CORNER…AJAGBA WINNER VIA TKO END OF 2

CARSON, Calif. (January 24, 2019) – WBC Welterweight World Champion Shawn Porter will make his first title defense in primetime as he battles mandatory challenger Yordenis Ugas Saturday, March 9 in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions on FOX and FOX Deportes live from Dignity Health Sports Park, formerly StubHub Center, in Carson, California.

Televised coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will see Porter defend his title after defeating Danny Garcia in an exciting September clash to capture the WBC belt. He will face Cuba’s Ugas, who has worked his way to this position with an impressive string of eight-straight victories leading up to March 9.

The action also features a duel between two hard-hitting brawlers as Andrzej Fonfara and Edwin Rodriguez meet in a 10-round cruiserweight match in the co-feature, while heavy-handed slugger Efe Ajagba steps up to face experienced veteran Amir Mansour in an eight-round heavyweight attraction in the televised opener.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions, are on sale Monday, January 28 at 12 p.m. PT. Tickets can be purchased at AXS.com

“Shawn Porter is one of the most charismatic and exciting fighters in the sport and he’s sure to light up the screen on March 9 on FOX and FOX Deportes,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “After winning a hard-fought close decision over Danny Garcia in September to capture the title, he will again have his hands full, this time with Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas, who has taken the division by storm, defeating top contenders and prospects to put himself in this mandatory position for his first world title. It’s a matchup of styles that is sure to generate a memorable night.

“In addition, Andrzej Fonfara and Edwin Rodriguez are heavy-hitters known for being in electric matchups and I expect both to leave it all on the line in this showdown to see who moves back closer to the championship ranks. With sensational prospect Efe Ajagba rising up the heavyweight division, he will look to secure another knockout on this March 9 card that is set to deliver from top to bottom.”

Porter will defend his title just over a month after Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao defend their 147-pound championships in separate clashes, and one week before Errol Spence Jr. puts his welterweight belt on the line against Mikey Garcia on FOX Sports PBC PPV, as we near finding out who will rise to the top of boxing’s deepest and most-exciting division.

The 31-year-old Porter earned the Garcia fight with a dominant stoppage of former world champion Andre Berto, which he followed up by defeating tough contender Adrian Granados. This followed Porter’s memorable title clash against Keith Thurman in 2016, which drew Fight of the Year praise and was narrowly won by Thurman.

Originally from Akron, Ohio but now living and training in Las Vegas, Porter became a welterweight champion for the first time in 2014 when he defeated Devon Alexander. Although he lost the belt to Kell Brook, Porter rebounded two fights later with a high-profile win against four-division champion Adrien Broner.

“We’ve already been in training camp for a few weeks working on conditioning and building up the fundamentals,” said Porter. “Ugas is a strong, aggressive fighter who’s responsible with his defense. He’s a Cuban fighter and I know he won’t waiver from that. It’s going to be up to me to get him to drop his hands, take some risks and then land my shots. It should make for a very entertaining fight and I can’t wait to get back in the ring and do what I do best.”

March 9 concludes a long road traveled by Ugas (23-3,11 KOs) from Cuban amateur star, to nearly out of the sport, and now on the cusp of a world championship. The 32-year-old won Bronze at the 2008 Olympic games and was 15-1 as a pro before suffering back-to-back losses in 2014. A 28-month layoff followed, with Ugas eventually deciding to return to the ring for a battle against then unbeaten prospect Jamal James.

Ugas not only defeated James in August 2016, but he followed up the win by stopping another unbeaten prospect in Bryant Perrella just over a month later. Now living in Miami and training in Las Vegas, Ugas triumphed in title eliminators against Ray Robinson last February and Cesar Barrionuevo in September on the undercard of the Garcia vs. Porter fight.

“This is a huge opportunity to make my dreams come true of becoming a world champion on FOX,” said Ugas. “Shawn Porter is a great champion and someone I respect. On March 9 when the bell rings, I’m willing to leave it all on the line, so the fans shouldn’t miss this one. It will be a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender. I can guarantee that and you will hear the words ‘and the new!”’

Fonfara (30-5, 18 KOs) established himself as a rugged contender in the light heavyweight division with some solid victories, including his most notable triumph over Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. He fought Adonis Stevenson twice for the light heavyweight world championship, losing the first time by decision in 2014 and losing by TKO in 2017. In his last fight on Feb. 17, the 31-year-old Fonfara of Radom, Poland, who now lives in Chicago, scored a TKO victory over Ismayl Sillah.

“I’m excited because I’ve trained a long time to get a fight and now we have a date and a great opponent,” said Fonfara. “I know Rodriguez is a strong fighter. He moved up to the cruiserweight division like me, so I think this is a 50-50 fight. It’s a good fight because me and him are tough fighters. We like to go to war. I know Edwin from Houston because I trained there a couple of times. He and I are good friends with Artur Szpilka. There’s no animosity and once we fight and I beat him, we can go out have a beer and talk.”

Rodriguez (30-2, 20 KOs) has demonstrated the ability to end a fight with a single punch, which adds intrigue every time he steps into the ring. The 33-year-old Rodriguez was born in Moca, Dominican Republic before moving to Worcester, Massachusetts. In his last fight he scored a unanimous decision over Lionell Thompson on Feb. 17, 2018.

“I feel great and I feel confident heading into this fight,” said Rodriguez. “Fonfara is a great fighter and so am I. It’s going to be very entertaining for the fans. I bring it and he brings it. I’ll adapt as the fight goes on and I’ll be ready for the best Fonfara.”

Nigeria’s Ajagba (8-0, 7 KOs) gained notoriety last August 24 at the Armory and on FS1 when his opponent, Curtis Harper, walked out of the ring after touching gloves to start the first round. The 24-year-old won the fight without throwing a punch as Harper was disqualified. In his last fight Ajagba, who lives in Stafford, Texas and trains with Ronnie Shields, knocked out Santino Turnbow on December 22.

Mansour (23-3-1, 16 KOs) is a tough veteran who has battled some of the top contenders in the sport, including Dominic Breazeale, Gerald Washington and former cruiserweight world champion Steve Cunningham. The 46-year-old southpaw from Wilmington, Delaware is looking to rebound from a loss to unbeaten Filip Hrgovic in his last fight on September 8.

For more information: visit www.premierboxingchampions.com, http://www.foxsports.com/presspass/homepage and www.foxdeportes.com, follow on Twitter @PremierBoxing, @PBConFOX, @FOXSports, @FOXDeportes, @TGBPromotions, and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PremierBoxingChampions, www.facebook.com/foxsports & www.facebook.com/foxdeportes.