Alejandro Hernandez Tops '15 Boxeo Telemundo Debut

By Jake Donovan

Alejandro ‘Payasito’ Hernandez played the role of spoiler when last appearing on Telemundo. His upset knockout win over Marvin Mabait last March not only derailed his opponent’s plans for a future title shot, but with Hernandez landing the opportunity himself.

This time around, the 28-year old from Mexico lands on the A-side of the promotion, headlining the 2015 season premiere of Boxeo Telemudo. The series kicks off March 6 at Auditorio Blackberry in Mexico City, with Hernandez looking to turn back the challenge of countryman Martin ‘Pini’ Casillas.

Mabait was one win away from challenging unbeaten bantamweight titlist Tomoki Kameda, before running into a determined Hernandez (28-11-2, 15 KOs), who stopped the visiting Filipino inside of five rounds last March. The win kicked off a big year for the battle-tested bantamweight, who followed up with an impressive 12-round points win over Daniel ‘Bad Boy’ Rosas.

Hernandez picked up an interim bantamweight title in beating Rosas, a version of the belt that led to his second career title shot. The Cinderella run came to an end, falling short to Kameda in a competitive 12-round bout last November on Showtime.

The previous attempt at alphabet glory for Hernandez resulted in a 12-round stalemate with Marvin Sonsona in their vacant super flyweight title fight in Nov. ’09.

Obviously, the goal for 2015 is to emerge back into the title picture. In order to get there, Hernandez has to avoid falling into the same trap he set for Mabait last year.

Casillas (15-4, 9KOs) had lost two straight in 2014, but ended the year with a win to restore his hopes for a career revival.

The March 6 show is the first of four consecutive Fridays that boxing will be featured on the network. Fights are still being added to the scheduled, but the remaining dates and locations have been confirmed for the Spring season:

- March 6: Auditorio Blackberry, Mexico City, Mexico
- March 13: A La Carte Pavilion, Tampa, FL
- March 20: Auditorio Blackberry, Mexico City, Mexico
- March 27: Turner Civic Center, Arcadia, FL

In addition to serving as the season premiere, the headlining bout also kicks off the Telemundo bantamweight tournament. The series saw a tremendous boost in ratings with its super flyweight tournament last summer and fall, and hopes to catch lightning in the bottle with this year’s offering.

“After a great run in 2014 with record breaking ratings, we come back strong in 2015 with great fights for the fans,” suggests Felix ‘Tuto’ Zabala Jr, who in addition to enjoying a banner 2014 year with his Telemundo series also gained enshrinement in the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame. “We will use the same formula with the super flyweight tournament, now adding bantamweights to have the winners fight against each other in the (summer and fall seasons).”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox