Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Troy Ross battle it out on September 15th in Germany

By Boxing News - 08/31/2012 - Comments

Image: Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Troy Ross battle it out on September 15th in GermanyBy Eric Thomas: IBF cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez (26-1, 13 KO’s) will be making his second defense of his International Boxing Federation title against 37-year-old #3 IBF Troy Ross (25-2, 16 KO’s) at the Stechert Arena, Bamberg, Bayern, Germany. Hernandez, 27, just finished beating Steve Cunningham by an impressive 12 round unanimous decision last February.

It was one of the best performances of the Cuban born Hernandez’s career, as it showed that he’s really progressed as a fighter.

Ross, 5’11”, is a dangerous puncher and he could give the shaky chinned Hernandez some problems if he’s able to land some of his power shots and fight with aggression. Hernandez can be hurt and sometimes goes into a hole if he fights someone that puts a lot of pressure on him early and constant. The question is can Ross stand up to the big 6’4″ southpaw Hernandez’s power without getting taken out like he was in his 5th round TKO loss to Cunningham in June of 2010.

Hernandez will be sporting a five inch height advantage over Ross and that could make it difficult for Ross to win this fight, because he’s not faced too many guys with that kind of size before. Hernandez’s trainer is going to have him using that height and reach to keep Ross stuck on the outside where he’s not going to be able to do a whole lot.

Ross has won his last two fights since losing to Cunningham, beating Carl Handy and Lukasz Rusiewicz. However, neither of those guys are anywhere close to being as good as Cunningham so it’s going to be tough for Ross in this fight. The last good opponent Ross beat was Michael Simms in June of 2009. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of quality on Ross’s resume in his 11 year pro career. He’s faced a lot of guys but not a lot of quality people.



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