Photo by Ismael Gallardo/Westside Boxing
Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (21-5, 7 KOs) finds himself in another Riverside vs. Philadelphia war when he faces “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy (25-4-1, 12 KOs) this Saturday, July 11, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.
The 10-round contest is scheduled for the vacant NABF Super Lightweight title and will headline a triple header on HBO Latino.
In a perfect world, Herrera would be making his third title defense against Lundy since losing a controversial unanimous decision against Danny Garcia in March of last year. Herrera has since won against Johan Perez and recently dropped another controversial unanimous decision against Jose Benavidez, losing the interim WBA World Super Lightweight title Herrera had won against Perez.
Lundy, a powerful and fast boxer who comfortably fights in both orthodox and southpaw stances, is as game of an opponent as the super lightweight division can offer.
He’s no stranger to controversial losses either and looks to rain on Herrera’s parade in front of his home crowd.
Read on for the three keys to victory for Mauricio Herrera.
Consistency on Jabbing the Body
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Throughout his career, Mauricio Herrera has been a defensive minded fighter that utilizes his jab well in order to set up his next move.
One of the keys for Herrera to be successful and win against tough foe Hank Lundy is jabbing the body consistently.
Since his early career fighting for Thompson Boxing Promotions until his most recent matchup, Herrera has demonstrated the ability of being a high-volume puncher. His success is due to the ability of using his jab as his primary weapon against his opposition.
During his controversial loss to former WBC Lightweight champion Danny Garcia in March 2014, Herrera landed a total of 221 punches with 139 of those punches being jabs (via CompuBox).
Jabbing the body of Lundy will be important. Though it usually doesn’t generate much power, it will allow Herrera to create a preferable space between both fighters.
Lundy moves exceptionally well throughout the ring so the jab downstairs can be used to stop Lundy in his tracks, also causing him to reset.
When Lundy battled against John Molina Jr. in 2010, Lundy struggled when Molina used his jab to set up combinations. Unlike Molina, however, Herrera is much more effective in using the jab to the head and body.
Consistency in jabbing the body will allow Herrera to dictate the pace of the contest and fight at his own tempo.
Controlling the Distance
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When Mauricio Herrera confronts his opponent and closes the distance, he is able to utilize his waist movement in and around the pocket, creating more opportunity for himself to be the aggressor.
Keeping a tucked chin and being versatile with his waist movement, Herrera creates many opportunities inside the box.
An important aspect of closing the gap is being able to smother the opponent when necessary. Lundy has fast foot movement that will require dirty boxing by Herrera. During previous bouts, Herrera has demonstrated the ability to outbox his opponent during close range encounters.
In his bout with Karim Mayfield, Herrera was able to outland Mayfield significantly during clinches. Smartly so, Herrera creates small gaps, or takes a small step back, to create enough room for himself to land punches.
If fighting at a distance, Herrera should look to jab (as noted before) and counter punch Lundy while applying pressure.
Finding the distance will give Herrera the opportunity to be the high-volume puncher he is popular for being.
Counter Punching
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With a reach of 71.5 inches, Mauricio Herrera has a 3.5 inch reach advantage over Hank Lundy, something he should fully take advantage of in order to counter attack.
If Lundy decides to box instead of brawl, Herrera should look to counter anything Lundy decides to throw.
Lundy tends to throw a lazy jab constantly throughout the rounds. Whether Lundy decides to fight orthodox or switch to southpaw, he will still generate opportunities for Herrera to counter when throwing those jabs.
Lundy demonstrated this throughout his fight with Johan Santana, landing 63 of 384 jabs (via ShoStats). That’s at a low 16 percent, in other words, Lundy threw an approximate 38 jabs and landed approximately six per round. This produces a huge opportunity for Herrera to catch or slip a jab and come back with a single punch or combination.
If Herrera is able to counter effectively, it will make his opponent hesitant. Consistently jabbing the body, controlling the distance and countering will give Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera an important victory over “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy.
