Shawn Porter has withdrawn from competing on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor undercard.
The former welterweight champion cited personal reasons, including a death in his family and will not fight Thomas Dulorme. That fight was going to be the main event fight on the Fox prelim card. The fight itself isn't scrapped, however as Dulorme will now fight Yordenis Ugas on Fox.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, released a statement confirming Porter's withdrawal and also said Dulorme is ready to face Ugas despite Ugas being a last-minute replacement.
"On behalf of Mayweather Promotions we send our prayers and deepest condolences to the Porter family. In boxing we have to deal with curveballs that constantly come at us. Thomas Dulorme has been training hard and is ready to face Yordenis Ugas. Ugas is a tough competitor that shouldn't be overlooked, and Dulorme is ready. The fight fans are definitely in for an outstanding show between Dulorme and Ugas come Aug. 26," Ellerbe said.
Ugas is 19-3 as a pro. After consecutive losses to Emmanuel Robles and Amir Imam in 2014, Ugas didn't fight for more than 24 months. Since coming back, Ugas has won his last four fights, two of those wins coming via KO. Ugas said he is thankful for the opportunity given to him fighting on one of the biggest boxing cards in history.
"It's an honor to be fighting on one of the biggest boxing cards in history and fighting in the same ring as one of the most famous boxers in the world - Floyd Mayweather,'' Ugas said. "This is the type of fight that I've been looking forward to having since I came back last year after being off for almost three years. This will be my fifth fight in a year. And this is the second fight that I've taken on short notice this year. But it doesn't bother me because I'm always training. Dulorme is a tremendous fighter. He's very aggressive and very technical. He's going to get my very best as I know I will get the very best from him. It's really an honor to fight a quality opponent on a card like this.''
Porter had some stakes in the match. The WBC announced that if Porter were to beat Dulorme and leave the fight relatively healthy, then Porter would fight Danny Garcia for the WBC interim welterweight title.
Fightful will have full coverage of the event, with live coverage of the fight card and a postshow podcast live on Fightful.