Payasito Hernandez Edges Casillas In Mexico City
Mar 21, 2015 • 12:27 PM ET
By Jake Donovan
It wasn't the dominant performance he vowed - despite what the final scores suggested - but Alejandro 'Payasito' Hernandez remains in contention for a bantamweight title after outpointing Martin Casillas over 10 rounds Friday evening in Mexico City, Mexico.
Scores were 97-93 (twice) and 98-93, all of which seemed a bit too wide but landing in favor of the right fighter.
Hernandez was inconsistent and a bit off-rhythm over the course of the first half of the fight, but fared far better down the stretch. Casillas - moving up in weight for the Telemundo-televised headliner - provided a stiffer-than-expected challenge, but could never maintain the type of sustained momentum needed to pull off the upset.
The win comes more than four months following Hernandez' failed title bid versus unbeaten Tomoki Kameda last November. His record now advances to 29-11-2, 15KOs. Despite the bout not serving as any sort of official eliminator, promoter Felix 'Tuto' Zabala Jr. has vowed to send his charge after unbeaten bantamweight titlist Shinsuke Yamanaka later this year.
UNDERCARD
Gabriel Acosta was spared the embarrassment of a knockout loss to a winless rookie, recovering from a 1st round knockdown to flatten Luis Delgadillo inside of three rounds.
A major upset threatened to be in the works after Acosta (7-0, 3KOs) was floored hard early in the night. A left hook to the body followed by a clean-up hook upstairs sent the unbeaten bantamweight to the canvas towards the end of the opening round.
It was the lone bright spot of the night for Delgadillo (0-2, 0KOs) , who was eventually bloodied and battered into submission. A sweeping overhand right left the local clubfighter with a gushing nose, remaining on all fours as the bout was waived off towards the end of round three.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
