By Erik Schmidt: Two talented but flawed cruiserweight contenders Yoan Pablo Hernandez (17-1, 10 KOs) and Aaron Williams (19-1-1, 13 KOs) will meet in an eight-round bout on January 24th at the Erdgas Arena, Riesa, in Sachsen, Germany. Both fighters have excellent amateur backgrounds, winning a number of championships each, but finding the going slightly tough at the start of their pro careers.
Hernandez, 24, a former 2004 Olympian for the Cuban team, is coming into the fight with a lot on the line. Previously ranked high in the IBF, WBA and WBC, he was shockingly stopped in the 3rd round by Wayne Braithwaite in March 2008. What made the fight even worse, however, was that Hernandez had Wayne Braithwaite down in the 1st and then let him off the hook, showing way too much patience as if Hernandez would be able to take him out any time he wanted to.
Instead, this allowed Braithwaite to get back in the fight by landing a hard right hand as the 2nd round ended. In the third, Braithwaite took advantage of Hernandez’s poor defense to send him down with a right hand. The 6’4” Hernandez got to his feet but was clearly badly hurt and barely able to defend himself. As it turned out, Hernandez was put down twice more in the round before the fight was finally called off at 1:52 of the 3rd round. The loss was a bitter pill for Hernandez, who many people thought had the makings of a future champion.
Hernandez looked hardly better in his next fight, a 5th round stoppage over Santiago De Paula in August. After knocking DePaula down three times in the first, Hernandez seemed to run out of gas in the next four rounds, still winning them all but sweating like he’d run a marathon and looking nervous under the attacks from the 10-7-1 De Paula.
Hernandez would eventually get the stoppage in the 5th after hurting DePaula with a combination to the head, which led to the referee to jump in and stop the bout. DePaula didn’t look that hurt, though, and appeared well enough to continue.
In Hernandez’s most recent fight, an 8-round majority decision over Michael Simms in October, Hernandez found himself on the canvas after getting put down with a right hand. A second before dropping Hernandez with a right, Simms had hurt him with a big looping left hand that snapped Hernandez’s chin back. Hernandez fought back after getting up and finished the fight in command, but, again, he failed to impressive.
Like in his fight with DePaula, Hernandez showed stamina issues, looking tired by the 3rd round. As such, it appears that Hernandez has a lot of work to do with his conditioning before he’ll be ready for longer 10 and 12 round bouts. Additionally, he needs to work on his defense because Hernandez has been hurt in his last three fights, despite only facing one fighter – Braithwaite – that can truly be considered a top tier cruiserweight.
Williams, 22, a nine-time United States amateur champion, is well known for his highlight reel 2nd round knockout of DeLeon Tinsley in June 2007, in which Tinsley was knocked partially out of the ring after getting nailed with two big right hands from Williams. However, just when things were going well for Aaron, he was stopped in the 5th round by Colombian Jose Luis Herrera in May 2008.
Williams knocked Herrera down in the 1st, but in trying to take him out after he got up, Williams appeared to punch himself out. Williams would win rounds two though four, but Herrera, a devastating puncher, was getting to him and landing several monstrous shots in every round. The punches seemed to take more energy out of Williams, leaving him looking weak by the 5th.
Herrera hurt Williams in the round with a big right hand and then flurried on him with huge shots, sending Williams into the ropes. To his credit, Williams got up and continued fighting, but was met with a storm of huge shots from Herrera, causing a now badly hurt Williams to take a knee. At this point, the fight was stopped by the referee.
I really like Williams in this fight. He’s got quicker hands, a slightly better puncher and a little better endurance than Hernandez. Though Hernandez’s big size and power-punching in the 1st round could cause some big problems for Williams, I think Aaron will be able to make it out of the round without getting stopped and go on to take Hernandez out in the later rounds. If Williams is smart, he’ll be careful with Hernandez in the early going, because the Cuban is extremely dangerous for about three rounds, and then quickly tapers off in terms of effectiveness.