Yoan Pablo Hernandez (26-1, 13 KOs) will take on the challenge of his mandatory defence. The 27-year-old IBF Cruiserweight World Champion will face Troy Ross (25-2, 16 KOs) on September 15 at the Stechert Arena in Bamberg, Germany.
Hernandez won the interim WBA title back in February of last year in Muelheim (Ruhr) against Steve Herelius from France. He really shot to fame on October 1, 2011. In Neubrandenburg he dethroned the then IBF World Champion Steve Cunningham by a technical decision. The rematch against the American took place in Frankfurt (Main) in February. Hernandez sent
Cunningham crashing to the floor twice during round four.
But the former champion refused to give up and fought his way back into the fight. After twelve rounds the judges saw Hernandez in front of Cunningham and scored the bout with 116:110, 116:110 and 115:111 in favour of the Cuban. As a reward he did not only regain the IBF-Belt but was also awarded the belt of “The Ring” magazine.
“This was one of the best Championship fights I have ever seen,” said Coach Ulli Wegner afterwards. “Yoan Pablo once again proved his class and won against a very strong and competitive Steve Cunningham.” Now the trainer and his prodigy will be travelling to Bamberg.
In Troy Ross, currently number three in the IBF rankings, Hernandez faces a tricky opponent. “He is very quick, agile and throws hard punches. I saw his title bout against Steve Cunningham back in June 2010. He was really strong but had to stop the fight due to a heavy cut. He was really unfortunate and will try everything to beat me and become the new world champion.”
Tickets for the big fight night at the Stechert Arena will be available atthe end of the week. They can be purchased online on www.eventim.de and www.boxing-online.com.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
