by Suzanne Nield
Floyd Mayweather Jnr v Genaro Hernandez
WBC Super-featherweight Title
On 3 October 1998, Floyd was a hot prospect at 17-0 with 13 wins inside the distance. But his best opponent thus far was experienced Canadian Tony Pep, whom he’d outpointed over ten.
Hernandez had been a super-feather world champion for much of the previous seven years. The Californian’s only loss in 40 fights had come when he relinquished his WBA belt to challenge for Oscar’s lightweight title, and was destroyed in six rounds. De La Hoya was too powerful and threw an uppercut that shattered Hernandez’s nose to stop the fight.
But Genaro dropped back down to super feather to collect the WBC strap – from Azumah Nelson, in a difficult battle where Hernandez took a hard shot to the throat after the bell rang to end the seventh, could have won on disqualification but chose to do it the hard way.
The beltholder Floyd was up against had knocked out both the formidable Jorge Paez, and former champion Raul Perez (in a rematch – their first meeting has the distinction of being the only world title fight on record where no punches were thrown. Perez headbutted Hernandez right after the bell and popped his own artery. Straight to casualty.)
Hernandez’s only fear was a hometown decision in Vegas for the youngster if it went to the cards, but the HBO commentary team were sceptical about Floyd’s chances. Larry Merchant reminisced about the time Len Matthews, who ‘had a better record’ than Floyd, went up against Carlos Ortiz. ‘Ortiz dismantled him, ruined his career.’
Actually, Matthews was 16-1-1 at the time, but Larry wasn’t the only one relishing the prospect of a battered prospect. The bookies were favouring Hernandez too.
…Hernandez jumps on Floyd at the first bell, but can’t touch him. It’s like there’s a slipstream around his punches and Floyd just flows into it. In the first half of the round, Hernandez can’t lay a glove on the kid, though he tries to drive forwards, makes Floyd lose his balance and go down. Merchant wants to call it a kayo, but there was no landed punch. Pretty Boy gets in his jab to the top of the head and downstairs, there’s blood in Hernandez’s mouth. ‘Don’t go to the head,’ his corner advises, and that’s good advice because he can’t catch it with a net.
The bell goes for the second and Hernandez starts to put Floyd under pressure. He’s trying to dominate but his tactics turn ugly – they tangle as Genaro traps Floyd’s head under his arm and they fall heavily in the corner.
Pretty Boy recovers fast to work a double jab to the head, lands an overhand right and back to the jab. Hernandez is being outworked and he knows it, gets frustrated and bulls forwards. He’s not boxing, he’s wrestling, burying his head in Floyd’s chest and pushing him back, giving him nowhere to put his feet. Floyd grabs to hold on but is forced down. Referee Jay Nady perversely decides it’s Floyd’s fault and gives him a warning.
The champion had claimed that he would make the counterpuncher come to him, but he’s pressuring again. Floyd lands a cracking left hook to the head, Genaro wrestles him backwards, and again it’s Floyd who gets warned. The champ is looking like a crafty old pro who knows a few tricks, but it’s the youngster who’s landing the clean shots.
Pretty Boy has more spite in his punches for the third. Double jab, straight right combinations are working beautifully for him, he’s beating Hernandez to the punch time and again. The champ isn’t happy with Floyd out there circling, and forces his way inside to land some hard hooks.
But a vicious right hand he didn’t see coming rocks Genaro, and for a moment it looks like he might go down. Again, he grapples in close.
Things get even more one-sided in the fourth. Pretty Boy turns it on offensively, feinting, making Hernandez blink. The only hope for the champion is to get in close and rough him up. But Floyd shows that, even when the other guy won’t give him space to work the way he likes, he can adapt, shorten his punches and exploit the gaps instinctively. There’s one gorgeous moment when Hernandez throws a left to the abdomen, and Floyd slips his body around it like a ballet dancer to bury his left hand in Genaro’s face. He ends the round with a flourish, left hooks to the head and a right uppercut, the titleholder on the ropes.
Hernandez’s corner shout words to the effect of, ‘This time with feeling!’ like the champ’s a bored chorus girl.
He’s not bored, he’s seething with frustration. But Genaro’s feelings don’t come into it. It’s Floyd on top all the way now. In the fifth Hernandez gets painted with combos on the ropes, a terrific right uppercut smashing through his guard. Then more payback time for those shady tactics in the opening rounds, as blistering salvos drive the champion onto the back foot. Floyd is blasting through the smallest window of opportunity with that shimmering speed, but it’s all headhunting and Genaro didn’t get this far without a chin.
Watching his belt become a memory, he tries to get the edge back in the seventh. But he’s just following Floyd around to be fed combinations, like the left hook, right uppercut sequence he swallows a couple of times. The kid’s only 21 and making a seasoned champion look like he doesn’t belong in the same ring. Floyd lands a perfect straight right to the chin on the bell.
In his corner, Genaro is cut to the right eye. His team are saying they’re so far behind they’re thinking of stopping the fight. But the tough defender emerges into the eighth for a further shellacking. Hernandez has a moment of hope when he lands a hard left coming off the ropes – Floyd loses his balance for a second but recovers without touching down. He retaliates with multiple head shots in the closing seconds of the round.
The champion’s trainer and brother, Rudy Hernandez, makes an executive decision and asks the ref to stop the fight. The entire Mayweather clan swarm the ring. Floyd bursts into tears and hugs his mom.
And Genaro Hernandez, two-time world champion, loses with beautiful grace. ‘I always knew that he had intelligence and speed. He was a smarter fighter and a lot quicker than me. My reflexes weren’t there, I’m 32 years old.
‘You’re a true champion, ‘ he says to Floyd. ‘My hat’s off to you. God bless you.’
So that’s how Floyd became the second Mayweather after Uncle Roger to earn a title belt, defeating the man who was called the best fighter at 130lbs in a decade. He defended the belt eight times against the cream of the super-featherweight division – a roll-call of talent, Corrales and Castillo to name but two – before moving up to lightweight.
Genaro Hernandez never fought again. He devoted himself to providing some incisive commentary and, being a computer expert, running CompuBox for HBO.
In UKBP’s final instalment in this series, ‘The World Awaits’, we’ll bring you not only the team’s predictions, but the inside story from the men who fought both champions: Genaro Hernandez and Angelo Nunez. Angelo speaks to UKBP by e-mail from his successful gym in Sacramento, Prime Time.
