Notebook: Foster 'had to dig deep' for comeback 12th-round KO
Serrano still wants Taylor rematch; U.S. boxers qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics; A. Moloney comeback set; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Lost in the shuffle of the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou spectacle on Saturday was O’Shaquie Foster’s stunning comeback to knock out mandatory challenger Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez in the 12th round to retain the WBC junior lightweight title for the first time in the Matchroom Boxing main event on DAZN in Cancun, Mexico.
As International Boxing Hall of Fame historian Steve Farhood put it on social media: “There have been thousands of world title fights, but on Saturday night, O’Shaquie Foster became only the 14th fighter in a title fight to trail on points going into the last round and score a stoppage to win.”
Foster (21-2, 12 KOs), 30, of Orange, Texas, closed the show impressively. Going into the 12th round, he led 106-103 on one scorecard but Hernandez (34-2, 31 KOs), 25, of Mexico, led on the other two — 107-102 and a seemingly way too wide 110-99 — when Foster dropped Hernandez twice and then continued to pound him until referee Hector Afu intervened with 28 seconds left in the fight.
The dramatic stoppage came after Foster and Hernandez waged a mind-blowing 11th round that seems like a good bet to hold up as the round of the year.
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Foster knew he was trailing because open scoring is used in WBC title fights in Mexico, meaning the scores were announced after the fourth and eighth rounds, and he was in a deep hole on two cards.
In the 11th, Foster badly hurt Hernandez with a right hand about 45 seconds into the round and then was all over him, rocking him with an onslaught of shots. At one point, Hernandez nearly turned his back on Foster and it appeared like the fight would be stopped. Foster continued to unload mercilessly on Hernandez, who came off the ropes and blasted Foster with a right hand.
Suddenly, Hernandez had Foster in huge trouble as he began to tee off with the crowd chanting “Rocky! Rocky!” Then Foster came back as they fiercely traded toe to toe and both looked like they were about to be stopped at any moment.
“My coaches were telling me that I was behind around the eighth round so I knew I had to push it before I lose my belt,” Foster said. “I have to give it all, so that’s what I did. Rocky is a hell of a puncher and a hell of a fighter. I had to dig deep, but I knew I could catch him. Around the ninth or 10th round, I started seeing his body limp when I hit him with the right hand, so I just kept having faith in it.
“In the 11th round I hurt him, but he came back and hit me with a good shot, so it gave him a little more hope, but in the 12th round I knew I could catch him. With the comeback KO I rate my performance an eight out of 10, but I really wasn’t too satisfied with how I fought. But it was a fun fight. I had fun in there.”
Now, Foster wants to unify 130-pound titles with the winner between IBF titlist Joe Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs), 31, of Wales, and Edwards Vazquez (15-1, 3 KOs), 28, of Fort Worth, Texas, who meet in the Matchroom Boxing main event Saturday (DAZN, 3 p.m. ET) in Monte Carlo.
“That should be next, unify, let’s do it,” Foster said. “I’ve proved I’ll go anywhere to fight, so if it’s the U.K., let’s do it.”
Make sure to listen to our latest podcast recapping Fury-Ngannou, Foster-Hernandez, Serrano-Ramos, news of the week and our nostalgia segment! Also subscribe to the pod for an alert as soon as the next episode drops.
Serrano still wants Taylor rematch
Undisputed women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs), who shut out WBO interim titlist and mandatory challenger Danila Ramos (12-3, 1 KO) in a defense Friday night on DAZN in Orlando, Florida, still hopes for an eventual rematch with undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor.
Taylor edged Serrano by split decision in April 2022 in an instant classic that sold out New York’s Madison Square Garden.
A rematch was planned for this past May but Serrano withdrew due to injury and Taylor instead challenged undisputed junior welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron on that date and lost a majority decision. They meet again on Nov. 25.
“I would definitely love to,” Serrano told Fight Freaks Unite about her desire to fight Taylor again. “I enjoyed every moment in that build up to that fight with Katie Taylor. She’s an amazing dance partner, an amazing champion and I would love nothing more than to share the ring with her again.
“I wish her all the best in her next fight. I do love Cameron as well. She’s a great fighter. It’s gonna be a great fight. I just hope they both come out well and maybe in the future we can get that rematch.”
4 more 2024 U.S. Olympians
Four more Americans — two men and two women — earned 2024 Paris Olympic berths thanks to semifinal wins at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Super heavyweight Joshua Edwards, 23, of Houston, won a 5-0 decision over Cuba’s Fernando Arzola Lopez to clinch his Olympic berth.
“I am overwhelmed. I have no words,” Edwards said. “I have been working so hard for this, so hard. I am ready to do this again at the Olympics.”
Featherweight Jahmal Harvey, 20, the 2021 World Amateur Championships gold medalist from Oxon Hill, Maryland, punched his ticket via 5-0 decision over Brazil’s Gabriel Oliveira. It was the fifth time they faced each other with Harvey taking a 3-2 lead.
Female welterweight Morelle McCane, 28, of Cleveland, Ohio, defeated Canada’s Charlie Cavanagh 5-0 to qualify.
“I will be in Paris, and I feel great,” McCane said. “I am honored to continue the Cleveland legacy and to be the first female from Cleveland to join the list of greats before me.”
Flyweight Jennifer Lozano, 20, the first athlete from any sport, male or female, from Laredo, Texas, to become an Olympian, qualified with a 5-0 decision Canada’s McKenzie Wright.
“We are going to Paris, baby,” Lozano said. “We are ready for all of the world. We are going to the Olympics. Being the first Olympian from Laredo means a lot to me.”
They join female lightweight Jajaira Gonzalez, 26, of Glendora, California, who earlier became the first American boxer to earn a spot via a 5-0 decision over Uruguay’s Camilo Pineiro Muino in the semifinals.
American boxers in other divisions can still qualify for the Paris Games at future tournaments.
A. Moloney returns
When last in the ring in May, junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney was on the bad end of a horrific 12th-round knockout at the hands of Junto Nakatani in their fight for the vacant WBO belt on the Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko undercard in Las Vegas.
Moloney, a former WBA “regular” titlist, has taken a rest and will be back in action against Judy Flores (13-1, 7 KOs), 24, of the Philippines, in a 10-rounder on Dec. 9 at Pullan Event Centre in Albert Park, Australia, Moloney’s home country.
“I’m itching to be back in the ring,” said Moloney, the twin brother of WBO bantamweight titlist Jason Moloney. “I’ve rested and reset after the Nakatani fight. I’m ready to get back in there and I know I’m still improving. That’s what’s exciting, and I may go down to flyweight in 2024. That’s yet to be determined. I’m still ambitious in the sport and will be world champion again by any means necessary.”
Flores has won four fights in a row since an eight-round decision loss to Antonio Nieves in May 2022 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
“Flores is a solid customer. I’m not overlooking him at all,” Moloney said. “He comes from a really solid camp which has multiple current and former world champions, so he’s going to be game and try to test me. That excites me. He knows he has nothing to lose and everything to gain,”
Quick hits
WBA bantamweight titlist Takuma Inoue (18-1, 4 KOs), 27, of Japan, who is the younger brother of Naoya Inoue, suffered a rib injury, which has forced his first defense against former junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas (34-3-2, 23 KOs), 31, a Filipino southpaw, to be postponed, Ohashi Promotions announced. The fight was scheduled for Nov. 15 at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo and was to have streamed on ESPN+ in the United States. The entire card was postponed. WBA flyweight titlist Artem Dalakian (22-0, 15 KOs), 36, of Ukraine, was due make his seventh defense, a mandatory, against Seigo Yuri Akui (18-2-1, 11 KOs), 28, of Japan, in the co-feature.
Houston-based Red Owl Boxing announced it will launch a nine-event series titled “Box Fest” that will feature “top prospects, future champions and action-packed fights” beginning Dec. 1. Each card, which will take place on a Friday night at the company’s 1,500-seat “Owl’s Nest” in Houston, will steam globally on DAZN. “Our goal at Red Owl Boxing is to provide structure and continuity to boxing’s middle class with a steady schedule of exciting fights featuring top prospects and gritty competitors,” promoter Gabriel Fanous said.
Show and tell
Featherweight champion Prince Naseem Hamed had come from England from the United States for the first fight of his big HBO contract and engaged in an incredibly exciting shootout with former titlist Kevin Kelley before knocking him out in the fourth round at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Hamed’s next fight was back in England but then he returned to America for the third fight of the deal and made his 11th WBO title defense against Irishman Wayne McCullough, a former bantamweight titleholder, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hamed predicted a third-round knockout but McCullough had one of the best chins ever. The Prince came nowhere near stopping him en route to a decision win (118-110, 117-111, 116-110). It may have been a routine defense for Hamed, but for me it was an extremely memorable and significant event in my career. The reason: It was the first of the 236 HBO boxing events I covered at ringside over the next 20 years and it was the first time I met many people in the boxing business I am still in touch with today. I have vivid memories of those few days I spent in Atlantic City.
I was there because I was in a loan program at USA Today, a position I applied for at the newspaper I worked at in Binghamton, New York, that was part of Gannett, which also owned USA Today, the company flagship paper. The program required the Binghamton paper to send one staffer to the mother ship in Northern Virginia for the four-month program. I applied and was picked. Off I went for four months in the sports department at USA Today, literally a dream come true. It was something I aspired to do since high school. I was assigned to the baseball desk and was part of the team that covered the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run chase of 1998. I even wrote the story on Cal Ripken Jr. ending his consecutive games played streak that was my first story stripped across the top of the front page of the paper. After the baseball season I covered college basketball and football and the NFL. But I, along with the others in my loan group, were told that if there was something we wanted to do besides what we were assigned to ask and they’d try to make it happen. I wanted to write about boxing. The editors were terrific in accommodating me. I wrote a few boxing stories and then asked if I could do something on Hamed-Kelley. Not only did they say yes, they said go to Atlantic City to cover the fight. And that is exactly what I did and I will never forget it, including Hamed’s legendary ring walk to “Thriller” as he danced through a mock graveyard knocking skulls off headstones on Halloween night, Oct. 31, 1998 — 25 years ago on Tuesday. Here is my ringside credential in my collection.
P.S. When the loan ended, I returned to the Binghamton paper. A little over a year later those same editors hired me to be the full-time boxing writer at USA Today, where I would spend the next five years before being recruited and hired by ESPN.
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Photos: Foster-Hernandez: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Serrano: Joseph Correa/Most Valuable Promotions; Moloney: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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I can’t believe two great fights two weeks in a row on dazan
Good piece. Can’t believe Hamed-McCullough was 25 years ago. McCullough was one tough hombre.