By Mark Eisner: In an incredible come-from-behind victory, WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster (21-2, 12 KOs) retained his title with a miracle twelfth round technical knockout victory over #1 Eduardo ‘Rocky’ Hernandez (34-2, 31 KOs) on Saturday night at the Poliforum Benito Juarez, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Foster was losing on two of the scorecards going into the 12th but dropped Rocky Hernandez twice. The referee halted the fight after Foster teed off on the badly hurt 26-year-old Hernandez, who looked out of it and wasn’t holding to get out of the round.
The time of the stoppage was at 2:38 of round twelve. Herandez was ahead 80-73 and 8-72 going into round twelve, and all he had to do was stay on his bike, but he couldn’t resist slugging with Foster.
In the eleven round, both fighters were hurt. Foster tagged Hernandez with a big left uppercut that badly stunned him. However, when Foster had Hernandez trapped against the ropes, he was clipped by a hard right-hand counter shot that hurt him.
Hernandez then teed off off as the round ended. Hernandez didn’t recover between rounds and wasn’t in good shape in the twelfth.
B24 will be giving live boxing updates below of tonight’s action on the Foster vs. Hernandez card.
- Unbeaten Australian heavyweight Justis Huni (8-0, 4 KOs) used his high-volume punching to defeat the faster and more powerful former cruiserweight Andrew Tabiti (20-2, 16 KOs) by a ten round unanimous decision. The scores were 100-90, 98-92 and 98-92. Whatever chance the 34-year-old Tabiti had of winning, he threw it out the door by not letting his hands go. He wasn’t throwing enough punches and was letting the 24-year-old Huni win rounds by not being busy enough. It was hard to understand because Tabiti had the hand speed advantage, and his power was excellent; he wasn’t throwing. The loss for Tabiti snaps his three-fight winning streak since losing to Yuniel Dorticos in 2019. Huni is going to need to add to his game for him to progress to a world title, because he doesn’t have the size or the power to contend with the bigger & stronger heavyweights in the division. It’s not a good sign that Huni wasn’t able to knockout Tabiti; it’s worrisome that he didn’t possess the same power. Huni can still be a good heavyweight, but he’s got a lot of improvements to make before he can compete with the top guys in the division. What Huni has in his favor is his youth. He’s only 24, so in another five to six years, the guys at the top of the division will either be retired or older and not fighting at the same level. Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk & Deontay Wilder will likely be out of the sport by the time Huni his 28, and he won’t have to contend with them. On the negative side. Those guys being out of the same means Huni won’t be able to make huge money because there isn’t anyone that compares to those guys in terms of popularity.
- Super featherweight Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez (25-1, 25 KOs) scored a second round knockout victory over 39-year-old veteran Oscar Escandon (27-7, 18 KOs) in a scheduled ten round fight. In the second round, Escandon threw a long left hook, and the 26-year-old Nunez stepped back a foot and dropped him with a right hand to the head. The referee halted the fight after the Colombian Escandon got back to his feet. After the fight, Nunez said, “I would love to fight Cordina next.”
WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) makes his first defense against Eduardo ‘Rocky’ Hernandez (34-1, 31 KOs) in the twelve round main event on DAZN at the Poliforum Benito Juarez, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The event starts at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.
The 25-year-old Rocky Hernandez has won six consecutive fights since being blown out in one round by Roger Gutierrez in 2019. Hernandez’s opposition has not been great, however, and it’s impossible to tell if he’s improved or is just a product of the type of lesser opponents he’s been fed by his promoters.
Undercard:
Eduardo Nunez vs. Oscar Escandon
Justis Huni vs. Andrew Tabiti
Carlos Ortiz Cervantes vs. Brian Mora Munoz
Javid Ramirez Beltran vs. Jose Rosas Meza
Hector Munguia Calderon vs. Oscar Pena Marquez
The undercard of tonight’s Foster vs. Hernandez event is a mixed bag of some decent local guys, but nothing great that stands out, which is why this card hasn’t gotten a lot of attention from the boxing world.
It’s interesting to note that Roger Gutierez was stopped in four rounds by Oscar Duarte in 2018, the guy who is scheduled to fight Ryan Garcia on December 2nd in Houston, Texas.
That gives you a little insight into Rocky Hernandez. If he hasn’t improved since his loss to Gutierez four years ago, Foster will toy with him tonight.
Foster recently captured the WBC 130-lb title with a decisive 12 round unanimous decision over Rey Vargas earlier this year in February. Vargas is a great talent who would likely give Rocky all kinds of problems. The fact that Foster easily handled him gives you an idea of what Rocky is up against tonight.
“The press conference was electric, and that’s what it means to them. That’s what it means to Mexican boxing. You’ve got a pure 50-50 between an established American world champion, O’Shaquie Foster, and one of the pound-for-pound most exciting fighters on the planet in Rocky Hernandez,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing.
“This is a genuine 50-50 world title match-up. I can’t wait for it to unfold. I think it’s a great clash of styles. We talk about skill and power, but both guys are going to have to show more in this fight. Rocky Hernandez punches very, very hard, but O’Shaquie Foster is a tremendous talent.
‘He’s an underrated talent who believes he can go on and unify a fantastic division. We can’t always do it because of the purse bids, and the fight costs a lot of money. We’ve had support from Cancun boxing and the tourism department and Pepe Gomez to stage this fight.
“It’s very important for Mexican boxing that great talent be able to fight for the world championship at home. It’s really been laid on the plate for Rocky Hernandez. Not in terms of the toughness of the fight but to have the opportunity to fight for a world title at home.
“It’s a great opportunity for him, but he’s got a lot to do. It’s going to be a very tough match-up for him. You know those guys have gone through the hardship of life. Boxing is tough enough on its own, but to deal with struggles they’ve had as well.
“You know neither is going to crumble or back down from the challenge in front of them, and that’s what lends itself to a great fight.
“People talk about the skills of O’Shaquie Foster, but this is a very determined young man that has changed his life and now puts himself in position for a massive unification fight,” said Hearn.