After Mauricio Herrera (23-5, 7 KOs) suffered a bad cut in Round 1 due to an accidental headbutt, it really seemed as if he were headed towards another night of bad luck in the ring.
The headbutts continued in the second round of his scheduled 10-round Super Lightweight fight against Hank Lundy (25-5-1, 12 KOs) at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California, but the 35-year-old native of Lake Elsinore did enough on the judges’ scorecards to win a fifth-round technical majority decision after a bad cut forced referee Jack Reiss to stop the fight.
In the first two rounds, Lundy, a 31-year-old native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, landed sharp punches on Herrera, who seemed stupefied by the early assault.
“He stung me in the first round and I kind of lost focus. I started finding my momentum as the rounds went on,” said Herrera, who was cut above his right eye in that very first round.
Herrera would find his momentum in Rounds 3 and 4 as he began landing left hands to Lundy’s chin, while also finding spots to land combination punches to his body.
Still, the cuts–one above the right eye in Round 1 and another above the left eye in round 2–bothered Herrera.
“The issue with the cut really made the fight lose its rhythm and momentum. I can’t see how deep the cut is but I feel physically fine and could have kept going,” said Herrera.
Photo by Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions
The cut, in fact, had a piece of Herrera’s skin hanging above it. Lundy, however, was furious with the decision and even continued provoking Herrera’s team after the fight.
“You saw it. He couldn’t handle my speed, my power or my skills so he was holding and doing a bunch of other dirty stuff. I know I won the fight. And, I was ready to take him out if it kept going,” said Lundy.
Herrera won the vacant NABF Super Lightweight title with scores of 48-48, 48-47 and 48-47.
In his post-fight interview with HBO Latino, Herrera called out Lucas Matthysse, who will face Viktor Postol for the vacant WBC 140-pound title.
The fight is in talks for the fall, so a fight between Herrera and the winner of the WBC title will probably have to wait until next year.
Nevertheless, if Matthysse is successful and we see him against Herrera, who do you think takes the win?
“Bring on Lucas Matthysse” #Boxing #HerreraLundy @MatthysseLucas pic.twitter.com/nLPcp5AEbL
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) July 12, 2015
