The planned homecoming for Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez ended with yet another career delay.
BoxingScene has confirmed that the former title challenger Hernandez was not medically cleared by the Comision de Box Distrito Federal (Mexico City Boxing Commission) and will no longer headline Saturday’s show in his Mexico City hometown. An issue with his eye exam was the reason that Hernandez, 37-2 (32 KOs), was denied a license and dropped from the show.
BXSTRS Promotions announced that Saturday’s Box Televisa/ESPN Knockout show will move forward with the balance of the card. A 10-round regional 140lbs title fight between Gabriel Jimenez, 12-1 (8 KOs), and Daniel Sanchez, 13-11-1 (10 KOs), will now top the show from Alcaldia Cuauhtémoc in Mexico City.
ESPN Knockout’s Salvador “Chava” Rodriguez was the first to report the medical issue.
Hernandez was due to face Gerson Escobar in Saturday’s main event. Instead, the setback leaves the 28-year-old slugger Hernandez inactive since his lopsided 12-round unanimous decision win over countryman Rene Tellez Giron last February 28 in Gatineau, Canada. The bout took place in conjunction with a newfound partnership between Matchroom Boxing – Hernandez’s co-promoter at the time – and locally-based Yvon Michel.
The hope at the time was for Hernandez to then clash with former 126lbs titlist Mark Magsayo in a WBC 130lbs final eliminator.
However, the bout was put on hold – because of a lingering eye injury that left three medical professionals in a split decision over whether to clear Hernandez. The physician assigned by the WBC was apprehensive about his being cleared in time to proceed with the ordered bout. A second opinion provided a more optimistic outlook for his recovery process.
The matter was tabled at the time, though Magsayo and the WBC have since moved on. Magsayo will instead face Michael Magnesi in a bout targeted for either late February or early March.
Meanwhile, the all-action fighter Hernandez is without a clear direction for resuming his career.
He has won three straight since his heartbreaking 12th-round knockout loss to WBC 130lbs titlist O’Shaquie Foster in their October 2023 thriller in Cancun. Hernandez led comfortably on two of the three cards through 11 rounds but was twice dropped and ultimately stopped with just 22 seconds to go in the contest.
Saturday’s bout would have marked Hernandez’s first in Mexico City since July 2018. He has regularly fought in Mexico, including 10 times in his true hometown but none in more than seven years.
