Before Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor could take center stage inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, fans were treated to a quartet of fights as part of the undercard.
Thomas Dulorme and Yordenis Ugas headlined the undercard, with Ugas taking a slim unanimous decision. The judges had it 94-91, 93-92, 93-92, in favor of the 31-year-old Cuban, according to BoxRec.
According to ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael, Dulorme earned $75,000 from Saturday’s fight, while Ugas pocketed $50,000. It turned out to be a pretty good deal for Ugas, who was only added to the card Aug. 18 as a replacement for Shawn Porter.
Dulorme was his own worst enemy Saturday. He knocked Ugas to the canvas in the seventh round but lost a point for repeated low blows. The referee took another point away from Dulorme in the 10th round for the same reason.
Those two points were pivotal in the outcome considering the judges’ scorecards.
That’s not to take anything away from Ugas, though. He sent Dulorme to one knee in the second round and knocked him down again shortly thereafter to energize the crowd. His aggressive approach set the tone for what proved to be a physical affair.
In a battle of the unbeatens, Juan Heraldez provided the first big surprise of the night, toppling Jose Miguel Borrego by unanimous decision. Two judges had it 97-92 in favor of Heraldez, and the third had the 27-year-old Las Vegas native ahead 96-93, per BoxRec.
Borrego went for broke late in the fight, and the strategy nearly paid off as he sent Heraldez to the mat in the ninth round. Fox Sports shared a replay of the knockdown:
SB Nation’s Bad Left Hook thought Borrego was poised to possibly steal the win:
Heraldez remained standing in the 10th round, though, and avoided making any critical mistakes. According to Sports Illustrated‘s Mike Dyce, fans in attendance booed the decision, but it was hard to argue with the result.
Especially early on, Heraldez did a great job finding a comfort zone and controlling the fight. He defended well and capitalized on his opportunities to pepper Borrego with jabs. Although Borrego came on strong late in the fight, it was too late to reverse the overall course of the bout.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden thought both fighters delivered an entertaining show:
Kevin Newman received his first professional defeat in the second bout on the undercard. Mark Anthony Hernandez claimed victory on the judges’ scorecards. According to Boxing Scene’s Keith Idec, two had Hernandez winning 59-54 and a third gave him a 57-56 edge.
Savannah Marshall kicked off the undercard by picking up the first professional victory of her boxing career. The 26-year-old secured a unanimous decision over Sydney LeBlanc, with Marshall earning a 40-36 advantage on all three judges’ scorecards, per BoxRec.
“I knew it would be hard to stop her so I made sure to box her,” Marshall said of the win, per the Mirror‘s Martin Domin. “I was able to execute my game plan. I’m happy with how I performed.”
Marshall won gold in the 2012 world championships. During the tournament, she defeated two-time gold medalist Claressa Shields, making her the only person to beat the 22-year-old to date.
Now, having made her professional debut, a rematch with Shields surely beckons in the future for Marshall.
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