By Cliff Rold
31-year old Welterweight Freddy Hernandez (29-1, 20 KO) of Mexico City, Mexico, methodically walked down 28-year old former WBO Jr. Lightweight titlist Mike Anchondo (30-3, 19 KO) of La Puente, California, on Friday night at the Buffalo Bill's Star Arena in Primm, Nevada, dropping Anchondo in round four before forcing a referee’s stoppage.
Hernandez and Anchondo both came in one and a half pounds over the Welterweight limit at 148 ½.
Entering the ring with a lollipop in his mouth reminiscent of popular countryman Jorge Arce, Hernandez brought the same calm to center ring at the opening bell, measuring an instantly pressuring Anchondo with his long arms, touching his man without firing. Anchondo stayed low, jabbing to the chest and doubling up with lead left hooks but struggled to land. Hernandez began to open up in the final minute, a snapping left hook catching Anchondo just before the bell.
As a Hernandez left hook crashed over the guard of Anchondo about a minute into the second, the towering advantage in height the Mexican held was glaring but Anchondo bounced right back towards him. A Hernandez right hand forced a similar reaction a minute later and, despite taking a crushing body shot near the corner, Anchondo was still plugging forward at the bell with a left of his own to the belly of Hernandez.
An awkward third round was marked by a clash of heads and a Hernandez picking at Anchondo one shot at a time. Round four was anything but awkward.
It was, instead, explosive. Much the way Hernandez had done to faded former Jr. Welterweight titlist DeMarcus Corley in February, Hernandez nailed Anchondo with a shot that sent a quiver through the body of his foe before the floor grew near. Landing a flush right to Anchondo’s jaw around thirty seconds in, sweat exploded and Anchondo’s knees went to jelly as Hernandez followed up with a grazing left to the body and right upstairs.
Anchondo was up, if shaky, at the count of five, flexing his jaw muscles as he walked to the corner. With referee Robert Byrd telling him at the end of the mandatory eight that Anchondo needed to “show me something,” Anchondo promptly walked into another right hand and held on. He ate another right, held again, and used his every survival instinct to keep Hernandez from landing flush again. It was working but the leather was piling up and landing with enough force to urge a stoppage from Byrd, Byrd pulling Hernandez away from a protesting Anchondo at 1:38 of round four.
Hernandez, after four straight wins by decision in 2008 and 2009 against more natural Welterweights, has found a niche with two straight knockouts of former titlists from smaller weight divisions. Not the fastest of hand, if he can bring that power into more serious Welterweight fare, he’ll be an exciting new force in a division suddenly shallow beyond the superstar pairing of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao and the still maturing but title holding Andre Berto. Hernandez’s sole loss came in a 2004 split decision against rugged Jesus Soto Karass.
Anchondo loses for the first time since 2007, halting a three-fight win streak compiled in 2009 after a 2008 absence. All of Anchondo’s defeats have come in four rounds or less.
Skilled 28-year old Jr. Lightweight and Cuban defector Luis Franco (7-0, 5 KO), 128, of Miami, Florida, lead off the telecast with a spirited unanimous decision over eight rounds against 27-year old Dominican Wilton Hilario (12-2-1, 9 KO), 127, of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota. It was Hilario’s second straight defeat in 2010 having suffered a twelve round defeat to veteran Martin Honorio in March.
Franco was pinpoint in the first round, his left hand making steady contact with Hilario. In the closing seconds, Franco threatened to overwhelm his man with an assault near the ropes but Hilario fired back to keep referee Jay Nady at bay. Hilario did his best to turn the tide early in the second, leaving his feet to throw a lead left hook only to be slashed with a counter right. By the final minute, the straight, accurate blows of Franco again put Hilario on the ropes but the Dominican was able to muscle his way back to mid-ring.
The start of round three was delayed when Hilario’s mouthpiece fell out. Nady had it placed and Hilario raced to meet Franco shoulder to shoulder. He took a fluid combination but battled back with short left hooks and his right uppercut. A low blow drew a grimace from Franco and cost Hilario a point after previous warnings. Franco pasted a rushing Hilario with a left hook, smiling as he stepped back and watched Hilario stumble off balance, setting his feet to do it again moments later.
Franco calmly sauntered forward at the bell for round four, answering body blows with peppering left jabs in the first minute while wrestling through the increasing clinches. It reflected a calm in Franco evident through rounds five and six, the occasional desperate right or left from Hilario no match for a Franco who picked his spots and flurried with fire.
Hilario ended the sixth by drawing Franco into a wild exchange and round seven saw a few more chances but lots of leather as the price. The lumps around both eyes spoke to Hilario’s willingness to pay the toll and some hammering right hands kept him alive if well behind. Dancing and moving in and out in spots, Franco boxed smart early in the eighth and final round. An accidental clash of heads drew blood from the left eye of Hilario in the final minute of the fight, the ring doctor taking only a brief look before allowing the bout to continue.
The final scores were easy for Franco at 78-73, 80-71, and 77-74 but Hilario accounted well for himself with a courageous display. Franco moves forward in a career being paced quickly, reflective of his deep amateur background. Franco was a 2004 Featherweight representative for Cuba at the Olympic Games in Athens, losing in the quarterfinals to current WBC professional 130 lb. titlist Vitali Tajbert.
The card was televised in the U.S. on Showtime as part of its “ShoBox” series, promoted by Gary Shaw Promotions.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
