As soon as Hank Lundy (25-4-1, 12 KOs) stormed into the Westside Boxing Club in Los Angeles, California, it was clear that we were going to see some fireworks at the gym.
Lundy walked in with the abrasiveness of a man who felt he had to assert himself in enemy territory, and, in fact, that’s exactly how he feels about his July 11 fight with Mauricio Herrera (21-5, 7 KOs) at the LA Sports Arena.
“He’s signed with Golden Boy. At the end of the day, I’m looking at this fight as ‘I’m on his turf, my back’s against the wall.'” said Lundy, as he was quickly surrounded by reporters as he arrived at Wednesday’s media workout.
Lundy, 31, also feels that he has earned his position in the 140-pound division–a position earned by taking tough fights and not from benefiting from a promotional push.
“He’s signed with Golden Boy; I made it big by fighting for everything I’ve got. Nothing was given to me, everything I got, I took,” said Lundy.
Herrera, 35, however, has had a tough career as well–handing Ruslan Provodnikov his first loss in 2011, and losing disputable split-decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Danny Garcia in 2014.
It seems that both actually have much more in common than Lundy would like to admit. But then again, a fight needs to be sold, and Lundy has willingly played the role of the bad guy.
“I ain’t blowin’ no smoke up nobody fight just to sell a fight. Everything I say, I really mean. Hard work and dedication—I mean everything I said,” said Lundy.
“I’m ready to search and destroy and hurt—I don’t really care what happens after this fight,” said Lundy.
And then, of course, this happened.
Lundy had come face-to-face with Herrera, though Herrera was much more calm.
Then, both got into a shoving contest as a near-brawl ensued.
Despite the fight week histrionics, however, we may be looking at a really good fight between two veterans.
Both are in tough positions in their careers and both desperately need a win if they want to remain relevant in the Super Lightweight division.
That, much more than a feigned rivalry, makes for a good fight.
