COMPUBOX INTERVIEW WITH FORMER TWO-TIME 130-LB CHAMP GERNARO HERNANDEZ ? A COMMON OPPONENT OF BOTH DE LA HOYA & MAYWEATHER
Only two men can boast of experiencing first hand the skills that Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather possess. One is Arturo Gatti, who suffered blowout losses to both (KO by 5 against De La Hoya and KO by 6 to Mayweather). The other is former two-time junior lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez, and though he also lost to both men (via 8 th round TKO to Mayweather and 6 th round retirement to De La Hoya) he experienced some good moments as well.
The mega-match between “The Golden Boy” and “The Pretty Boy” provided the perfect vehicle by which to catch up with the thoughtful Hernandez, who offered his recollections about his adventures in the ring against both men as well as his thoughts on what will happen on May 5.
COMPUBOX: When you first signed to fight Floyd Mayweather, what were your impressions of him?
Hernandez: That he was pretty quick, but that I was able to beat him. He was coming out of the Olympics and didn’t have much experience professionally. Don’t get me wrong, everybody who goes into the Olympics has experience ? many, many years behind them ? but I just thought I would impose my professional experience on top of him. At that time I was unbeaten at 130 pounds and I didn’t think anybody could beat me in the first place. But he proved me wrong ? he was quick and obviously I had a very bad night that night, but it just goes to show that even the best can be beat sometimes.
