By Jake Donovan
Alejandro 'Payasito' Hernandez and Humberto Morales are weighed in and set for the summer season finale of Boxeo Telemundo (Friday, 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. local time).
Their scheduled 12-round fight takes place Friday evening at Auditorio Blackberry in Mexico City, with a regional super bantamweight title at stake. Hernandez (29-11-2, 12KOs) tipped the scales at 119 lbs., while Morales (14-11-4, 8KOs) weighed 120 lbs.
Despite moving up in weight for this fight, Hernandez still has bantamweight championships well within his sight. The resurgent contender came up short in a title bid versus then-unbeaten champ Tomoki Kameda last November in Chicago, having since bounced back to outpoint Martin Casillas in this very venue this past March.
Getting to the title stage, Hernandez claimed upset wins over Marvin Mabait and Daniel Rosas in a career-resurrecting 2014 in-ring campaign.
"I've always said that when at his best, Payasito can stand tall with any bantamweight in the world," notes Felix 'Tuticto' Zabala, Hernandez' promoter. "He always gives his all whenever we have him on Telemundo and Friday night will be his next step towards returning to the championship stage."
Accepting the fight late into the promotion, Morales comes in upset-minded.
The 25-year old Veracruz native owns one of the stranger unbeaten streaks, having not lost in any of his past seven starts, yet with only four wins among the lot. Still, he will take that over his previous experience, having dropped five straight during an 11-month stretch between Dec. '12 and Nov. '13 before rededicating himself to his craft.
At the very least, Morales' current run (4-0-2-1NC)—which includes wins over Jesus Jimenez and Cesar Gandara, along with a hard-fought 10-round draw with Edgar Jimenez this past February on Fox Deportes—helped push his record back above the .500 mark for the first time in three years.
FULL WEIGHTS
Alejandro Hernandez, 119 lbs. vs. Humberto Morales, 120 lbs. - 12 rds, super bantamweight
Omar Salano, 130 lbs. vs. Jeovanny de la Cruz, 130 lbs. - 6 rds, super featherweight
Irvin Marin, 131 lbs. vs. Gabriel Perea, 130 lbs. - 6 rds, super featherweight
Hugo Guarneros, 112 lbs. vs. Victor Perez, 112 lbs. - 6 rds, flyweight
Francisco Rojo, 138 lbs. vs. Alejandro Palmeros. 137 lbs. - 8 rds, lightweight
Gabriel Acosta, 118 lbs. vs. Reyes Xicoternancati, 116 lbs. - 6 rds, bantamweight
Julio DeJesus, 126 lbs. vs. Ricardo Gonzalez, 126 lbs. - 4 rds, featherweight
Christopher Lopez, 122 lbs. vs. Carmelo Magana, 122 lbs. - 4 rds, super bantamweight
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox