Former welterweight world champion Yordenis Ugas has been medically cleared to return to the gym, without restrictions, to resume his training for a return to the ring.

After suffering a stoppage loss in his unification fight in May against Errol Spence, Ugas needed several months to recover after sustaining a fractured orbital bone during the action.

“Thank God the doctor allowed me to train with full contact,” explained Ugas to George Ebro. “But we are not going to fight yet. Let's keep training. They have been difficult months. I was seeing double, with a lot of discomfort. It has been a war, but it is one more that I've been able to fight. Thank God we're moving on."

Ugas is currently targeting a ring return for the first half of 2023.

“I always had faith that I was going to return to boxing,” added Ugas. “I am going to compete, but it was a long recovery. Next year I hope to return with a good fight. We are going to look to be champion again. We have had great fights and we were already champion. Now we will try to get there again.

"The welterweight division is a historic weight class..... Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar de la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao. This is the division I want to fight in."

The 2008 Olympic bronze medal winner reached new heights in his career back in 2021, when he stepped in on late notice to outbox eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao over twelve rounds to secure a dominant decision victory. The bout became the final outing for Pacquiao, who ultimately did not exercise his rematch clause and instead retired from the sport.