By Francisco Salazar

(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) - If Mauricio Herrera could look at a fight where the cup was half-full and half-empty at the same time, it would be his technical decision win over Hank Lundy on Saturday night.

Herrera improved to 22-5-1, 7 KOs with the win before over a partisan crowd of 4,672 at the Sports Arena.

Lundy dropped to 25-5-1, 12 KOs.

There is still debate amongst fight fans and bloggers as to who won the fight. Most would concede it was only a matter of time before Herrera was on the right side of a close decision since he had been on the short end against the likes of Danny Garcia and Jose Benavidez.

Despite the win, Herrera does not have a feeling of satisfaction. There was the slow start in the first two rounds, one where Lundy seemed to control the first two rounds. It was in the third round where Herrera seemed to turn the fight around in his favor before the fight was stopped with less than a minute in the fifth round due to a nasty cut above his right eye from an accidental head-butt.

Herrera would have liked for the fight to have continued from that point.

"It feels weird," Herrera told Boxingscene.com after the fight. "It feels like I didn't even fight. It was cut so short and I still (had) all this energy. It's messed up the way it happened. The head-butts killed the beginning of the rounds."

Like Herrera, Lundy has also been on the short end of some close decisions, including his 10 round split decision loss to Thomas Dulorme on December 6.

Whether in victory or defeat, Lundy has performed well in the ring throughout his career. While he was able to withstand Lundy's best combinations early on in the fight, Herrera thought Lundy would have given a better account of himself against him.

"I thought Lundy was going to be sharper," said Herrera, who resides in Riverside, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. "I thought he was going to be quicker. I was surprised how slow he was and how tired he was already getting."

"It was the fourth or fifth round and I thought, 'This guy is already tired.' But at the same time, I was worried about my cut and I was thinking I could take this guy out. This guy was talking so much but it seemed like his conditioning wasn't all there."

While Herrera did not rule out a rematch against Lundy, his focus seemed to be on other opponents. He is holding out hope a fight could be made against Lucas Matthysse, even though the Argentine fighter may have a fight lined up against Viktor Postol this fall.

Then there is an old foe, one whom Herrera was able to get the best of when they squared off over four and a half years ago. That would be Russian brawler Ruslan Provodnikov.

Herrera is 35 years of age and while he is still a viable contender at 140 pounds, one has to wonder how many more fights he has left in him.

"Those are big names," said Herrera, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. "Those are the only names out there. The other guys are with Al Haymon and will be difficult to make, but the only one with Golden Boy that can be made is with (Lucas) Matthysse. It's only fair that at 140 (pounds) that I can realistically fight him or Ruslan (Provodnikov) and those are big names. I would love to fight them."

 Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing