Payasito Return Comes With Title Fight Implications
Mar 20, 2015 • 6:41 AM ET
By Jake Donovan
While 2014 wasn’t kind to boxing fans in terms of marquee matchups being made, there were plenty of success stories to come of the year. One of the more pleasant surprises was the surge enjoyed by Alejandro ‘Payasito’ Hernandez, a battle-tested veteran from Mexico who parlayed a pair of big wins into a bantamweight title shot.
Back-to-back victories over Marvin Mabait and Daniel Rosas led to a showdown with unbeaten Tomoki Kameda last November in Chicago, Illinois. The Showtime-televised bout ended in disappointment for Hernandez, who dropped a split decision in a fight that most felt wasn’t as close as judges saw the action.
To his credit, Hernandez accepts the fact that he lost to the better man that night, and can only hope to once again punch his way back into contention.
“It was a good fight, I finished strong, I know that I should have start at a better pace, but no excuses he beat me but it was a close fight,” admits Hernandez (28-11-2, 15KOs).
The failed title bid was his last ring appearance as he resurfaces Friday evening in Mexico City in a scheduled 10-round bantamweight bout with Martin Casillas. The bout will air live on Telemundo (11:35 p.m. ET/9:35 p.m. local time).
On paper, it’s a fun matchup that should enable Hernandez to return to the win column. Of course, as much was thought of Mabait in a similar position one year ago—almost to the day.
Mabait was in line for a crack at Kameda before running into Hernandez, suffering a 5th round knockout and falling out of immediate contention. The Filipino boxer wound up with a title shot of his own, suffering a stoppage loss at the hands of unbeaten 115 lb. titlist Carlos Cuadras last November in Washington D.C.
However, few if anyone in the industry gave Mabait any chance of winning, and he fought accordingly. That’s not at all the case for Hernandez, who believes he has plenty of fight left in his 28-year old body.
His handlers believe as much, which is why they’ve upped the ante for Friday’s headliner.
“I can promise that the winner of this fight could face (Shinsuke) Yamanaka for the WBC bantamweight title later this year,” assures Felix ‘Tuto’ Zabala, Jr., Hernandez’ promoter.
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.
