By Elisinio Castillo

Yordenis Ugas is going to be in good company with countryman Rances Barthelemy. The Cuban welterweight contender was added to the February 10th card to fight for something very important for his career: a position close to the top in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) rankings.

As part of that Showtime televised evening from San Antonio, where Barthelemy will look for his third world title, Ugas will face Ray Robinson in a showdown where winner will be placed in the number two position in the IBF's top ten.

"I have to underline the significance of this for Yordenis, because to win his next fight would be for something very similar to a world title," said Ugas' manager Luis DeCubas Jr. to George Ebro. "Everything he has done so far , all of his growth in the ring would be justified with a win.'

After almost two seasons away from the ring and a couple of failures difficult to digest, Ugas has gone through an impressive second chapter of his career with run of five wins, three of them by way of the knockout.

"What Yordenis has done should be praised, because nobody knew what to expect from him when he decided to return in 2016," DeCubas added. "He has surpassed all expectations and now we expect much more from him."

And the opponent in the other corner, who bears the identical name of the best fighter of all time? To begin with, he has more than 10 years of experience in the ring, he's fought with well-known names like Shawn Porter and his last victory was over Colombian puncher Breidis Prescott.

Robinson, 31, seemed to be on course to reach the heights of the welterweight ranks, when a car accident in 2015 kept him out of action for 18 months, until he returned in October 2016 and he's won his last five and four of them by knockout.

"This is a difficult opponent for Yordenis and he wants the same thing: to rise and to aspire for more," said DeCubas Jr. "But we are confident that he will be able to move forward and continue this climb of wins."