By Sean McDaniel: IBF cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez (26-1, 13 KO’s) will be making his second defense of his International Boxing Federation title tonight against 37-year-old challenger Troy Ross (25-2, 16 KO’s) at the Stechert Arena, in Bamberg, Bayem, Germany.

Hernandez should be able to turn back Ross tonight as long as he doesn’t get jumped early and hurt by one of Ross’s big shots.

Ross is one of those fighters that gets most of his knockout wins early in his fights. If he can’t hurt you by the 4th, then he rarely is able to score a knockout after that point in the fight. Hernandez is going to have to be very careful with Ross early because there’s just too many of a danger for him to get hurt by one of Ross’ big right hands.

Hernandez, 27, has been fighting really well of late, defeating former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham in his last two fights. Before that, Hernandez beat a dangerous fighter in Steve Herelius and made it look easy in stopping him in the 7th in a one-sided fight.

Ross, #3 IBF, can’t afford to let Hernandez dictate the pace of the fight by staying on the outside. That’s not going to work for him. Ross has to take the fight to Hernandez and look to get him out of there early. That’s going to be hard, though, because Hernandez has an excellent right hook and straight left hand that he uses to hurt his opponents. It’s hard to take those shots when Hernandez is throwing them in combination form. However, Hernandez is mainly dangerous early on and tends to lose his power and his ability to throw combinations as the fight wears on.

I like Hernandez in this fight. He’s got the reach, the boxing ability, and the hometown crowd all in his favor. He should be able to box his way to a lopsided decision as long as he avoids getting hit by one of Ross’ big shots early in the fight.