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Hernandez retains WBC 108-pound title, stops Kakutani in four

Fighters Network
01
Sep

It was tougher than anticipated, but Adrian Hernandez emerged victorious in the third defense of his WBC junior flyweight title, knocking out the unheralded Atsushi Kakutani in four rounds on Saturday at Gimnasio San Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City, Mexico.

The time of stoppage was 1:12

Hernandez (28-2-1, 17 knockouts), who is rated no. 5 by THE RING at 108 pounds, had an early wake-up call in round one after being dropped moments into the bout.

Hernandez steadied himself soon after and began to control exchanges with his accurate left hooks. Hernandez paid Kakutani back with interest in round four, dropping him three times to force the stoppage.



With the win, Hernandez registers his sixth straight victory since his upset loss to Thai Kompayak Porpramook in one of the most exciting fights of 2011. The Toluca, Mexico native has also registered victories over former titleholders Rodel Mayol and Gilberto Keb Baas.

Despite having no significant victories on his record, Kakutani (13-4-1, 6 KOs) had risen to the no. 14 contender ranking with the WBC. This was Kakutani’s first bout outside of his native Japan.

The fortunes weren’t totally unkind to underdogs on this night, however.

In the co-main event, Jessica Gonzalez, who entered Saturday with a modest record of 2-1, upset Irma Garcia to win the WBA female bantamweight title via ten-round split decision. Two judges had Gonzalez winning 97-94 and 96-94, which the third had Garcia winning 96-94.

Garcia, who had won the title in January with a decision victory over Janeth Perez, sustains her first loss, moving her record to 7-1-1 (1 KO).

Gonzalez and Garcia, both of Mexico City, were once teammates on the women’s boxing reality show “Todas Contra Mexico”.

The event was promoted by Promociones Del Pueblo and televised by Televisa.

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