Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez kept his spot near the top of the WBC lightweight rankings in anticlimactic fashion this evening, beating Thomas Mattice by technical decision in their DAZN main event.
Hernandez (36-2, 32 KO) hit the ground running as always, stalking a mobile but largely passive Mattice (22-3-1, 17 KO) across the ring and looking to punish the body. He landed his fair share of good blows, though nothing demanding a more dramatic adjective, and shrugged off the best counters that Mattice managed to deliver.
Mattice found his way into second gear after a clash of heads opened up a cut on Hernandez and quickly proved himself the sharper, quicker puncher. A second cut soon tilted the scales from competitive to one-sided as Mattice spent the sixth round teeing off on a bloodied “Rocky.”
Then things got weird.
Referee Mark Calo-oy, a fixture of the Texan and Mexican scenes, waved off the fight as Hernandez’s corner men struggled to plug that second cut. Ruling that both cuts came from headbutts, which video evidence suggests may not have been the correct call, he called for a technical decision as an enraged Mattice accused Hernandez of quitting.
David Diamante took three tries to read the cards correctly and award Hernandez the win on scores of 59-55, 58-55, and 58-56. If 58-55 sounds off, it’s because the judge actually scored it 58-56 before the supervisor bungled the addition.
It’s an incredibly tough break for Mattice, who really seemed to have figured Hernandez out. One would hope that Matchroom would pursue a rematch or, if Hernandez moves on to face the winner of Robson Conceicao vs O’Shaquie Foster 2, give Mattice another opportunity. Not a lot of time left on the clock at 34.
As for Hernandez, he’s still got the defensive lapses that left Foster turn things around on him and his power didn’t look like the great equalizer it usually is. We’ll see what he can manage on the drawing board.