By Jim Dower: In something of an upset, former Cuban amateur star cruiserweight Yoan Pablo Hernandez (24-1, 13 KOs) stopped WBA interim champion Steve Herelius (21-2-1, 12 KOs) in the 7th round on Saturday night in Germany.
Both fighters looked cautious for the most part. The 6’4″ Hernandez controlled the fight with jabs, straight lefts and beautiful combinations after Herelius would throw punches. The problem was that Hernandez often had to make his own opportunities rather than waiting to counter because Herelius looked really gunshy from the left hands he was getting hit with. In the 4th round, Herelius injured his left ankle after he stepped wrong while bouncing around the ring.
He spent the last part of the round limping noticeably. In between the 4th and 5th rounds, the ringside doctor examined Herelius’s injured ankle and for a brief time it looked like the fight was going to be stopped. However, they allowed the fight to continue into the 5th and Herelius responded with a lot of aggression in his best round by far, as he took the fight to Hernandez and had him looking scared.
However, Herelius once again became timid in the 6th and 7th, and basically gave the fight away. In the 7th, Hernandez ended matters when he loaded up with a hard left hand that hurt Herelius, causing him to bend forward. Hernandez than added a short left hand that put Herelius down.
The fight really should have been stopped at that point because Herelius was badly hurt. However, Smoger gave Hereluis, the WBA cruiserweight interim champion, the benefit of the doubt by allowing him to continue fighting. Hernandez then opened up with a blizzard of punches to put Herelius down for the second and final time.
Hernandez dropped Herelius twice in the 7th round to get the stoppage when referee Steve Smoger stepped in at 1:19 to halt the bout. Herelius was nailed by two consecutive left hands in the 1st knockdown that left Herelius nose a bloody mess. He staggered and partially limped as he got up. When the action resumed, the 26-year-old Hernandez drove Herelius to the corner and unloaded on him with a flurry of shots that ended with a hard right hand that put Herelius down for the 2nd and final time in the round. Referee Steve Smoger then stepped in and stopped the fight.
In other action on the card, IBF cruiserweight world champion Steve Cunningham (24-2, 12 KOs) defeated Enad Licina (19-3, 10 KOs) by a narrow 12 round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 118-110, 117-111, 115-113. Cunningham had problems with Licina’s pressure, and many of the rounds were incredibly close.
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