PHOENIX, AZ – They are two super-middleweights from the same town with equal amounts of power and similar skillsets. Only a right hand seemed to separate Andrew Hernandez and Roberto Yong.
Hernandez had more of them.
From round to round, Hernandez (20-7-1, 9 KOs) landed them in a back-and-forth bout for a 79-73, 80-72, 79-73 decision over Yong Saturday night on an Iron Boy Promotions card.
Hernandez’ right hand set the tone, dictated the pace and – in the end — ruled what was a closer bout than margins on the scorecards might indicate. Just when it looked as if Yong were finished, the Phoenix fighter adjusted with quick feet and resiliency that indicated he might be able to spring an upset despite his record (5-15-2, 4 KOs).
Yong took the fight to Hernandez in the fifth and again in the seventh. He adjusted, yet never enough to elude that difference-making right in front of a lively crowd on a night that included a heartfelt tribute for late boxing journalist Don Smith from ring announcer Ralph Velez Jr.
Smith became a beloved figure in the Phoenix boxing community, which had come to rely on consistent internet reports he provided on Arizona boxing over the last decade. Smith was killed when he was run over by an automobile in a west Phoenix neighborhood in May.
Best of the Undercard
Lightweight Trini Ochoa (2-0, 1 KOs) got a crowd filled with his fans from nearby Mesa rocking with a head-rocking first-round stoppage of Marcus Rodriguez (0-2), an El Paso fighter who two minutes after opening bell appeared to be exhausted by Ochoa’s ferocious pursuit.
The Rest
It was a return and a rematch. Phoenix bantamweight Alexis Zazueta (10-0, 5 KOs) was back for his first fight since a knockout of Mexican Leonardo Reyes in March, 2016. This time, Zazueta scored a unanimous decision over Reyes (7-17, 3 KOs)
Chicago welterweight Vernon Brown had more punches, but lacked enough power for stoppage of a bout begging for one. Instead, Brown 18-0 5 KOs) settled for a majority decision over Greg Jackson (18-7) of Philadelphia.
Abdul Ibrahim, a UK middleweight, got his first victory after a loss in his debut, getting up from two first-round knockdowns for a second-round TKO of Brandon Trujillo (0-4) of Albuquerque, NM.
Frank Sanchez (8-0, 7 KOs), a Cuban heavyweight living in Las Vegas, was flat on his face in the first round after wildly missing a punch that knocked him off balance and onto the canvas. It was scored a knockdown. It wasn’t. In the second, Sanchez finished Francois Russell, a Chicago fighter whose only introduction was his 30-fight record. Twenty-seven were losses. Nothing to advertise there. Nothing to advertise about his 28th loss — a second-round TKO – either.
Phoenix middleweight Eduardo Ayala 1-2, 1 KO) celebrated a pro victory for the first time, a first TKO of Derrick Beroit (-4) of Houston.
Heavyweight Andrey Fedosov (30-3, 25 KOs) was looking to get in a little work in his first fight in more than two years. A little was what he got. Very little. Mexican Francisco Mireles (19-15, 8 KOs) surrendered, going down quickly and almost willingly in a first-round embarrassment.
