Eduardo ‘Rocky’ Hernandez continues to bully his way back into title contention.
The heavy-handed junior lightweight extended his knockout streak following a fifth-round stoppage of unbeaten Jorge Mata. Hernandez floored Mata early in round five, with an ensuing volley capped by an uppercut which forced referee Francisco Laveaga to stop the contest at 1:15 of round five in the opening bout of a DAZN quadrupleheader Saturday evening at Centro de Usos Multiples in Hermosillo, Mexico.
As is the case with just about any fight featuring Hernandez, the bout was pure violence from the opening bell. Hernandez stalked Mata, landing several rights to the body and upstairs along with crushing uppercuts. Mata was willing to walk through fire, landing two clean right hands to the chin of his countryman at separate points in the opening round. Hernandez took the shots well, coming back with heavy right hands of his own to drive back Mata.
Hernandez opened round two with a right hand and left hook as Mata was pinned against the ropes. Hernandez continued to throw pure heat with every power punch, though Mata showed a sturdy chin along with a willingness to trade. The unbeaten 21-year-old from Tonala, Jalisco ended the round on a high note, slamming home a left hook behind Hernandez’s guard.
Mata turned to his jab in round three, though finding greater success with his chopping right hand. Hernandez continued to shake off all of the incoming as he stuck with his plan of walking down Mata and punishing the body.
Hernandez slowed down his attack in round four, offering more head movement and using his jab to set up heavy right hands. Mata came on strong in the back half of the round, twice snapping back the head of Hernandez courtesy of overhand rights. Hernandez quickly reverted to pure power punching, digging his left hook to the body and coming back with straight right hands upstairs. Mata caught an uppercut that caused his legs to buckle in the final ten seconds.
Mata was able to clear his head between rounds though also had to contend with reddening outside of his left eye. He would spend the entirety of the truncated fifth round dealing with more incoming power shots.
Hernandez had Mata badly hurt in the opening minute, eventually forcing Mata to the canvas courtesy of a left hook to the chin. Mata beat the count but was under siege for the rest of the way. A final right uppercut was enough for the referee to rescue Mata (14-1-2, 10KOs) from taking additional punishment.
Hernandez advances to 33-1 (30KOs) with his fifth consecutive win, all coming inside the distance. Saturday’s win matched the deepest he’s had to go to secure a knockout win and just the fourth time in his career he’s been extended beyond the fourth round.
Headlining the show, lineal junior bantamweight champion and local hero Juan Francisco Estrada (42-3, 28KOs) faces countryman Argi Cortes (23-2-2, 10KOs) in a scheduled twelve-round contest.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
