Photos: O’Shaquie Foster Rallies To Knock Rocky Hernandez Out in Thriller – HUGE Gallery

Benito Juárez Sports Center in Cancun, Mexico – In his first defense of the WBC super featherweight title, O’Shaquie Foster (21-2, 12 KOs) rallied in the championship rounds to stop a very durable Eduardo ‘Rocky’ Hernandez (34-2 31 KOs) in the twelfth and final round. (photos by Ed Mulholland)

Foster came out jabbing and moving around the ring. Hernandez was applying a lot of pressure as he was following Foster around the ring.  It was more of the same in the in the second and third, but Hernandez was landing good body shots and the crowd would explode with each landed punch. 

Hernandez went right after Foster in the fourth, but Foster was able to connect with some telling counters. Hernandez began to rip the body with punches. The fifth was very physical with Hernandez trying to rough Foster up with anything he could land. He was much busier than Foster.

Foster switched to southpaw and did better with his counter and quick punches in the sixth. Hernandez came back in the closing moment with a rally of shots. An inside battle with punches in the seventh. Hernandez was very busy, forcing Foster to trade with him at times but the champion was being outworked.  The eight was close as the pace slowed down for both. Foster was boxing well, but also not throwing a lot to take full advantage of Hernandez taking a round off.

Hernandez was backing up for most of the ninth, until a Foster rally of combinations made him open up with punches. In the tenth, Hernandez came back roaring with punches and was once again making it a rough fight for Foster, who was landing but not making a dent.

In the eleventh, Hernandez went back to backing up and Foster was using his southpaw style and he badly rocked Hernandez. Foster appeared to be on the verge of getting knocked out before he landed a big hook that rocked Foster. The two of them were hurt and trading shots in a toe to toe manner as the entire crowd was on their feet.

The twelfth and final round, Foster came out firing on what seemed to be a Hernandez who still looked hurt. Hernandez was decked by a Foster combination. Foster went for the finish and landed several more hooks to send Hernandez down for a second time. Foster was blasting away on Hernandez against the ropes – as the referee jumped in to stop the fight.