Photo by Ismael Gallardo/RBRBoxing.com
Last year was a tough one for Mauricio Herrera (21-5, 7 KOs).
The 35-year-old native of Lake Elsinore went all the way to Puerto Rico to fight Danny Garcia in March of 2014.
It is always a risk to fight where an opponent is heavily favored, and that risk ended in a controversial majority-decision loss that many felt Herrera won.
After a win over Johan Perez to win the WBA interim 140-title, Herrera seemed to be back on track for a stellar 2014.
However, he would lose the interim title in his first defense against Joseph Benavidez before the year ended.
Again, Herrera didn’t get the decision in a fight many thought he won, and a suffered two controversial decision losses in one year.
Last year was indeed full of disappointments for a boxer whose talent is somewhat obscured by a lack of knockout power (Herrera currently has 7 knockouts in a total of 27 fights, a 27% KO ratio).
Nevertheless, Herrera sees last year’s disappointments as fuel for his first fight in 2015, which will take place on July 11 at the LA Sports Arena against Hank Lundy (25-4-1, 12 KOs).
“It’s going to be fuel from last year. They did me dirty, they did me wrong. It could have been a negative, but I’m going to take it as a positive,” said Herrera at a recent media workout to promote the 10-round Super Lightweight, which will be televised by HBO Latino.
“Hank Lundy is the one who’s going to pay for it,” said Herrera, who says he may even stop the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native.
“It’s going to be a hard fight for him. It’s not going to be easy,” he continued.
Big Changes in the 140-Pound Division
As far as the 140-pound division is concerned, there are big changes in play as Herrera makes another run for a world title.
Danny Garcia, who has held the WBC strap for several years, finally relinquished the belt, allowing for a fight between Lucas Matthysse and Viktor Postol to take place for the newly-vacant belt.
Garcia still holds the WBA title, but as he moves to Welterweight, we can expect the WBA to be up for grabs in the future.
Lamont Peterson, who holds the IBF strap, may also move up in weight, while Top Rank’s rising star, Terence Crawford, recently won the WBO title against Thomas Dulorme.
Needless to say, there are many fights to be made at 140 with nearly every title at stake.
As Garcia moves up to 147, Herrera may look to fight any of the aforementioned 140-pounders instead of a rematch with Garcia.
