Junior middleweight contender Vladimir Hernandez looks to make the most of his elevation to headliner on Saturday when he takes on Argentina’s Francisco Daniel Veron in what promises to be an all-action 10-rounder inside Fresno, California’s Save Mart Arena, live on ProBox TV...
Hernandez and Veron find themselves atop the bill following the cancellation of Lester Martinez vs. Pierre Dibombe due to Martinez suffering from migraines in the final stages of his training camp. Hernandez, a 36-year-old Mexican who fights out of California, is no stranger to gate-crashing parties, however. The southpaw has scored upset victories over the likes of Alfredo Angulo, Julian Williams, Lorenzo Simpson, Guido Schramm, and Isaias Lucero in the past.
Veron, based in Florida, will have his work cut out in a contest that is exceptionally difficult to call. The 26-year-old is 14-1-1 (10 KOs) and was outpointed by Brandon Adams but can boast victory Angel Ruiz Astorga and he’s held Jahi Tucker to a draw. Victory here could land him a world ranking with Hernandez, 17-6 (7 KOs) currently rated in the top 15 at 154lbs by the WBC.
The Mexican is fresh off that aforementioned victory over Lucero, which came on points after 10 rounds on a ProBox TV card in March. That success followed a win against Raul Garcia, again over 10 rounds. Veron is coming off the loss to Adams but he was competitive all the way, eventually losing on points following a 10-rounder which saw one of the judges only score for Adams by a solitary point.
Elsewhere on the bill, in a junior bantamweight WBC title eliminator, 17-0 (8 KOs) Erick Badillo stakes his unbeaten record against Nicaraguan southpaw Gerardo Zapata, who fights out of Miami, Florida. Zapata, who lost a decision to the excellent champion Oscar Collazo last year, is 15-2-1 (5 KOs). The winner will then be in position to challenge WBC champion, Panya Pradabsri.
Unbeaten bantamweight Katsuma Akitsugi risks his 12-0 (3 KOs) record against tough Filipino Jonas Sultan, who is 19-7 (11 KOs) and has been stopped only once. Katsuma fights out of Los Angeles but was born in Japan, and the southpaw returned with two stoppage wins last year following some time out of the ring.
Promising Mongolian southpaw, Tsendbaatar Erdenebat – 12-0 (6 KOs) – fights out of Paramount, California, takes on Mexico-based Californian Humberto Galindo, who is 14-3-3 (11 KOs), and coming off two solid draws against Oscar Bravo and Abraham Nova.