‘Macho’ Miguel Hernandez Talks about Winning the WBC USA Middleweight Title!
By Juan C. Ayllon
Original Article: http://alphamaleboxingandfitness.newsvine.com/_news/2006/02/13/96381-macho-miguel-hernandez-talks-about-winning-the-wbc-usa-middleweight-title
Dr. Stoxen (left) with Miguel Hernandez (right)
CHICAGO, February 12, 2006 – Fresh back from winning the World Boxing Council’s USA Middleweight Title in Miami against Ryan “Dangerous” Davis, Popular Chicagoan and Puerto Rican “Macho” Miguel Hernandez had a few things to share about his first experience fighting outside of Illinois.
With his win, his record is 19-3 and nine knockouts, while Davis’ record now stands at 19-5-2 and eight knockouts.
JUAN AYLLON: How was the fight?
MIGUEL HERNANDEZ: It was fun, man. It was great. As I said, the training pulled me through. I was in great shape, man! The fight went well. To me, it went beautiful, ’cause I ended up walking out with the belt.
It was a hard fight. This kid was an awkward fighter. He tried to just be slick and use his boxing, you know, and then move around a lot, give me different angles. And I had to keep putting the pressure. I had to put the pressure on him and keep attacking.
As a boxer, he was the one they were picking to win. I was the underdog. Did he have superior [skills]? He was a good boxer, he was a slick boxer, I told you. He came in [with] 220 amateur fights, [and] 25 professional fights. I was the underdog, man! And when he pressured me, I started putting pressure on him. And I tried to leave it in my power, set up my punches, and I threw a lot more punches. I should have been able to throw a lot of punches, because I was in good shape. I wasn’t tired.
After the fight, the announcer told me, he got in the ring, he said, ‘Man, I don’t know what you did, but you conditioning was awesome!’ That meant a lot.
And I won over the people in Miami. People in the crowd were chanting my name!
Yeah, it was a dream come true, man!
But he was a hell of a guy. You know what was good about this fight? His father was in his corner, his brother was in his corner, and his family was there—his mom and everything. And after the fight, he was a family person. After the fight, I went and I told him, ‘Hey,’ you know, I told his mom that I had the utmost respect for them to be there for his son. I told his dad that that’s what I’m going to do for my son if he wants to continue boxing, I want to be there for him like he’s there for his son. And, had it been him that won the belt, I would have felt good for him. But, I told him that I won this fight and I hope you’re happy for me. And, he shook my hand and he gave me a hug, man, in front of the commission and everything. He was a nice guy.
JA: Tell us about your point deduction.
MH: In one of the rounds, I got upset, which is wrong. I’ll tell the young fighters out there: I’m learning, so, my advice to them is to stay focused.
He kept using elbows and he was a veteran in there.
To make a long story short, I hit him; one time, he leaned in—I didn’t do it intentionally—but I hit him in the back [of the head]. [The ref] gave me a warning. And then I hit him low, and the low one, I did intentionally, you know, ’cause I was tired of all his dirtiness.
They warned me, so the ref took a point away.
You know, which with one warning, everyone in the crowd started booing. After that, he helped me out, ’cause he put a spark to my ass, and I came on strong after that. I even think I won the round if they took that point away from me.
JA: Did he ever hurt anytime in the fight?
MH: You know what? In the first round, I mean, you’ve been to my fights. Like I said, I didn’t have nothing on this guy. I didn’t have no tapes; I had a tape, but it was his first professional fight.
I didn’t know too much about him, but that he had a lot of amateur fights and he was a good professional boxer.
So, I wanted to see what he had and he threw a right hand and I went back into the ropes, and everyone got scared that I was hurt.
And, it was a good punch.
Like I said, anybody that puts the gloves on, and you get hit, they can hit.
But the first round, that’s probably the only time that I got hurt and that wasn’t even bad.
My face says it all: I have one little bruise under my left eye, that’s it. I don’t think it looks like I fought.
JA: And did you hurt him at all?
MH: Oh yeah, I hurt him a couple times, especially in the ninth round. I had him holding on for dear life when I caught him with a left hook.
He was a bigger guy. I mean, I was stronger, but he’s 5′ 10.” He weighed in more than me—156. I was at 155; he was at 156. He looked to be the bigger guy, but, like I said, I came in there and, win or lose, all I wanted to do was fight. That’s it.
JA: Tell us about the issue of weight in your fight.
MH: The weight went his way. It was a title fight, okay? You see, when you go for a title fight, it’s usually ’54 or 160 pounds even. Either you’re fighting junior middleweight or middleweight. And he wanted to fight at 157 lbs. And, I said, ‘Okay,’ I’d give him that.
JA: What do you think made the big difference in the fight?
MH: I was the aggressor and landing more power shots. And more punches. I landed the more clear punches and I didn’t get hit as much.
You know, I did what his game plan was: hit and not get hit. He said that he was going to give me a boxing lesson, and he was going to use his superior jab and give me a boxing lesson. And, had I fought him from the outside, yeah, he probably would have. But, it didn’t happen.
I was coming, yeah; I was coming, sometimes. But you know, I stayed focused. I kept my eyes on the guy this time. I tried not to throw looping punches, instead, keep my punches straight. Everything worked out good.
JA: You didn’t throw the looping overhand right like you usually do?
MH: I threw it a couple times. That’s just me. You can’t change that. But, it wasn’t more of a wild punch; it was accurate. I was looping it a little bit, but I had power behind it. ‘Cause sometimes I just let it go [before] and, if I missed—you think about it: You miss and your opponent moves out of the way, you could fall, if you throw it with so much power. But I had my balance. That was the technique, to keep my balance and stay focused.
JA: So, what are you going to do next?
MH: Well, right now, I’m going to train. I’m going to the gym tomorrow. I’m going to stay in the gym and I’m going to train, man.
To me, this is like my world title. I’m just happy that I got to bring this belt back home not only to me, but to all the fighters that helped me and believed in me here from Chicago. We did it man.
I want to mention them, too.
Like Sean, I sparred with him. He’s a hell of an amateur. He’s something else. He’s a ‘white boy with style,’ I call it! (Laughs) I sparred with him and he helped me out a lot.
Ottu Holifield.
Mike Nevitt. Mike Nevitt is a hell of a person. He’ll motivate you and he gave me all kinds of tips before I left [Chicago to fight in Miami]. And it stuck with me in my head. This guy here, when he fought for the Illinois State Title, he trained his ass off. And, he was in great shape. And when you’re in great shape, anything can happen.
Cedrick Agnew.
Michael Walker.
Jorge Gonzales.
Germaine Sanders. Germaine Sanders is another guy who helped me out.
You know what, bro? Let me tell you something: Before I left, I went to Windy City and all the fighters there gave me a hug and wished me luck. And that meant so much to me.
This was a team effort—all my corner: Sam Colonna, Vince Mendoza, “NBC” Jose Nazarro. These guys helped me out so much.
David Estrada. He’s a close, close, precious friend to me, man. And, as a friend, he’s a friend of boxers.
You know, and I know he didn’t win his [last] fight out there, [but] to me he’s still one of the top Chicago boxers out here. He’s got great skills. I respect him highly. And, I just want him to keep his head up.
I don’t want to miss anyone, Juan.
And to Dominic [Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, his promoter], thank you for this opportunity. Like I said, he’ll get you the fight and it’s up to us to go out there and fight, and win the fight.
And, I did. I brought the belt back here, and now we get to defend it. I get to defend it; he gets to make the fights. [Laughs]
And I want to thank Team Doctors—for all his help, for the strength training.
I just want to thank the guys that I got there and I want to say to all the fans out there that go to see me fight, and want me to win, that, hey, we did it! And, without them, I probably never would have got this opportunity.
And, Miami: Those people treated me good! I want to thank “Big Star Productions.” I want to thank them for the way they treated me out there. They treated me really good. And, hopefully I can defend the title out there. Hopefully, I’ll get a couple fights.
I want to fight here in Chicago. I would like my next fight to be here in Chicago.
JA: Any last thoughts?
MH: No, that’s it. I’m just happy. Boxing is not easy. It’s a stressful sport. This is something that no one can take away from me.
I know I’m going to get a lot of people saying, ‘Who did he fight?’ You know what? You know it, Juan, they know it: I fought somebody. This guy was no bum. His record speaks for itself.
I’ve been fighting some really tough guys and I’ve been training hard. I had my doubters out there that want to see me fail. I keep a smile on my face and I tell them, ‘Keep buying tickets, just ’cause they can’t whup my ass, they’ll buy a ticket to go see somebody else whup my ass. And, you know what? If they keep filling the venue up, I’ll keep fighting.
I don’t hate nobody, not even the people that want to see me fail. And I wish them the best, too. And hopefully, I’ll win them over. And if not, you can’t win everybody over.
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