Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Genaro Hernandez

Only 21 years old and engaged in his eighteenth professional contest, Floyd Mayweather Jr. became the first member of the United States team from the 1996 Olympic Games to win a world championship when he defeated Genaro Hernandez at the Las Vegas Hilton on October 3, 1998. Hernandez, the experienced WBC super-featherweight champion, remained on his stool after the eighth round of a scheduled twelve, his right eye swelling and his corner satisfied that further resistance would serve no purpose.

The match appeared to be a severe examination for a young professional who had completed only one ten-round contest. Mayweather entered unbeaten in 17 bouts, with 13 victories inside the distance, but he had not previously met a boxer of Hernandez’s standing. The 32-year-old champion had a record of 38 wins, one defeat and one draw, and had held world honours in two separate reigns. His only previous loss had come at lightweight against Oscar De La Hoya in 1995. He had since returned to 130 pounds, defeated Azumah Nelson for the WBC championship and made four successful defences. Both men weighed exactly 130 pounds. Hernandez received a reported purse of $600,000, while the challenger was paid $150,000.

Hernandez began carefully, keeping his taller frame at range and attempting to draw Mayweather forward. His intention was to make experience count by catching the younger man as he entered, and the opening round was the champion’s best portion of the contest. Mayweather did not hurry. He watched Hernandez’s jab, moved his head before stepping into range and took note of the champion’s reactions. By the second round, his greater speed was becoming evident. He crossed the distance quickly, scored with short combinations and was gone before Hernandez could make an effective reply.

From the third round onward, Mayweather took firm command with his left jab. He used it both to the head and body, sometimes doubling it before driving the right hand through the middle. Hernandez was accustomed to controlling contests with his reach, but he could neither keep the challenger outside nor hold him in position for a counter. Mayweather’s feet carried him in and out without waste, while his upper-body movement caused the champion’s punches to miss by small margins. Hernandez continued to advance and remained composed, but he was being beaten to the punch in nearly every exchange.

Hernandez altered his approach in the fourth round, opening his stance and trying to attack from less familiar angles. The change brought him closer to Mayweather, but it also left a straighter path for the challenger’s right hand. Mayweather answered the champion’s wider punches with compact blows, frequently landing two or three before Hernandez could reset himself. In the fifth, Hernandez spent longer periods near the ropes, hoping Mayweather would overreach or exhaust himself in attack. The younger boxer declined to rush. He stood at an angle, picked his openings and scored with lead rights and uppercuts. There were no knockdowns, but the difference in speed and accuracy was marked.

The sixth and seventh rounds followed the same pattern. Hernandez tried to make the contest physical at close quarters, where his strength and long experience might have slowed the challenger, but Mayweather was equally capable inside. He worked with short punches, turned away from the ropes and resumed his attack before Hernandez could establish a sustained body assault. The champion was still willing and continued to come forward, yet his returns grew less frequent. Mayweather’s combinations repeatedly reached the target, and the swelling around Hernandez’s right eye became increasingly troublesome.

Hernandez made another determined effort in the eighth, pressing the action and accepting punches in order to deliver his own. Mayweather met him without losing his shape, landing clean counters and finishing the round strongly. By then he had connected with 221 of 412 punches, while Hernandez had landed 103 of 314. Mayweather had taken nearly every round on the official cards, although the complete totals were rendered unnecessary by the finish. Between rounds, Rudy Hernandez, the champion’s brother and trainer, told him that the contest was over. Referee Jay Nady confirmed the retirement, and Mayweather was declared the winner at the completion of the eighth round.

The result advanced Mayweather’s record to 18 victories without defeat and gave him the WBC super-featherweight championship less than two years after his professional debut. Hernandez fell to 38-2-1 and never boxed again. The contest had required neither a dramatic knockdown nor a prolonged exchange to settle it. A proven champion had been methodically deprived of his advantages by a younger boxer whose speed, judgment and accuracy were already sufficient for world-class opposition.

This was Mayweather’s coming-out party. Genaro Hernandez was no manufactured champion. He had held world titles, beaten Azumah Nelson and lost only once, when Oscar De La Hoya stopped him up at lightweight. He was tall, experienced and clever, the sort of man expected to expose a 21-year-old challenger if he had been moved too quickly.

Mayweather passed that world-level examination with flying colours. After taking a round or two to read Hernandez, he began beating him with the jab, stepping into range behind quick combinations and turning away before the champion could answer. Hernandez tried boxing at distance, changing his angles and waiting near the ropes for Mayweather to overcommit. Nothing worked. Mayweather was simply quicker in thought and execution.

This was the younger, more aggressive Mayweather, before hand trouble became a major factor and forced him to place greater emphasis on defence and control. He was prepared to remain in range, let combinations go and finish an opponent as soon as the opportunity appeared. Hernandez was never knocked down, but he was comprehensively beaten, and his right eye was closing when his corner retired him after eight rounds.

I regard it as one of Mayweather’s finest performances because of the opponent and the ease of the victory. A respected champion did not surrender his title cheaply; Mayweather took it from him.