Junior lightweight Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez showed his full skill set on Friday night, proving he is a top player in the 130lbs division with a dominant performance.

Hernandez won a 12-round unanimous decision against Rene Tellez Giron at Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Canada. The judges scored the bout 119-109, 120-108 and 120-108.

Usually known for his power, Hernandez, 27, started the fight boxing and using a great jab to keep Giron at distance. Despite Hernandez’s dominance, Giron, who came in 1.6lbs overweight at the weigh-in, continued to target Hernadez’s body, even pushing Hernandez back to the corner in Round 4.

The middle rounds saw the fighters trade punches, with Hernandez landing the harder shots but the stubborn Giron unwilling to take a step backward. Hernandez took a systematic approach, showing his world-class caliber. With his faster hands and more concise technical shots, Hernandez landed accurate, clean punches that snapped Hernandez’s head back. He continued to land first, often with a signature right uppercut. 

As they entered the championship rounds, Hernandez capped his performance by both boxing and slugging with Giron – the latter almost getting him into trouble. Giron landed his best punch at the end of Round 10, a left hook that caught Hernandez’s attention. Giron continued to chase Hernandez around the small ring, his body shots appearing to finally take a toll on Hernandez, who moved around the ring with his hands below his waist.

Well ahead on the scorecards, Hernandez came out in the final round moving well, but he found himself exchanging with Giron, whom Hernandez moved backwards with a big right hand.

It was a veteran performance by Hernandez, who is eyeing future big fights. Although he was never in too much trouble, he was tested enough to stay sharp.

The WBC is expected to order Hernandez to face Mark Magsayo in a final elimination bout, with the winner of that bout poised to challenge current titleholder O'Shaquie Foster. Hernandez has history with Foster: the two fought in 2023, with Foster knocking Hernandez out in the 12th and final round to defend his title. 

Hernandez is now 37-2 (32 KOs) and on a three-fight win streak.

Giron fell to 20-5 (13 KOs) and has now lost two fights in a row. He dropped a unanimous decision to Floyd Schofield in November.

In the co-feature, heavyweight Alexis Barriere, a 29-year-old Quebecois earned a sixth-round technical knockout over Ubaldo Ilagor. Ilagor was unable to answer the bell for Round 7. Barriere improved to 12-0 (10 KOs) while Ilagor, a 25-year-old from Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico, is now 13-2 (12 KOs). 

Middleweight Derek Pomerleau, a 24-year-old from Montreal, earned a sixth-round technical knockout over 37-year-old Nathan McIntosh of Poland. The time of the stoppage was 2:50. McIntosh took the fight on six days' notice. Pomerleau improved to 11-0 (9 KOs), with McIntosh falling to 14-4-1 (1 KO).

Former world titleholder featherweight Jelena Mrdjenovich won a unanimous decision over Jessica Bellusci in the telecast opener. The scores were 79-73, 80-72 and 80-72. Mrdjenovich, a 42-year-old from Edmonton, Canada, improved to 43-12-2 (19 KOs) after returning from a 20-month layoff. Bellusci, a 26-year-old from Italy, fell to 6-4 (2 KOs).

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.