(Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)

O’Shaquie Foster vs. Eduardo Hernandez, Round 11

When you think about the year-end awards, one of the categories that fight fans look forward to the most is Round of the Year. It’s a category that immediately makes them think of the legendary moments of the most celebrated fights, such as Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward I (Round 9), or Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo I (Round 10). 

On October 28, 2023, fans witnessed an incredible fight between WBC 130-pound titleholder O’Shaquie Foster (21-2, 12 KOs) and Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez (34-2, 31 KOs), which produced 2023’s Round of the Year winner. Round 11 of their fight-of-the-year candidate was so exceptional that Corey Erdman, who called the fight with Gabriel Rosado and Claudia Trejos for DAZN’s live broadcast, exclaimed, “You might have just watched the round of the year!” The hardcore boxing community on X (formerly Twitter) almost unanimously agreed. 

There is usually a beautifully cinematic buildup to a round-of-the-year winner. On this night, at the Poliforum Benito Juarez in Cancun, Mexico, fans witnessed that play out in front of their eyes. Erdman set the table when he predicted “a classic matchup between boxer and puncher” seconds before the start of the main event’s first round. Foster immediately went to using his legs and left jab to dictate the pace from a conventional stance. On the other hand, Hernandez skillfully cut off the ring while landing overhand rights to Foster’s head.

(Photo by Melina Pizano/Matchroom)

Outside of a headbutt from Foster in the fourth round (which opened up a cut over Hernandez’s right eye) the story of the fight was Foster’s ability to use every part of the ring while looking to counterpunch Hernandez, who expertly applied smart pressure. Foster and his team felt they were ahead in the fight, but something needed to change. Although Foster was the defending beltholder, he was on Hernandez’s home turf, which could have cost him the fight had it gone to the scorecards. 

Foster switched to southpaw at the halfway point, which opened up possibilities he hadn’t had for the first five rounds. But as Foster adjusted, so did Hernandez, who used clever angles to land left and right hooks to the body. Foster stayed in the pocket more during the late rounds, and the fight started to build to its climax. Hernandez took the ninth off, which appeared to prepare him for the championship rounds. He returned to form in the 10th, and it looked like the challenger was gaining his second wind.

As Round 11 began, little did we know that these two junior lightweights would give everyone three minutes of unforgettable action. Foster landed hard left hooks to Hernandez’s head from the southpaw stance, but at the 2:16 mark, he landed a left uppercut followed by a left hook that nearly folded Hernandez. We will never know how he avoided the knockdown, but that’s all Foster needed to jump on him.

(Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)

Hernandez knew he was in real trouble and kept looking to his corner for instructions. He was badly buzzed and disoriented, and at one point he even turned his back to Foster as he tried to escape follow-up punishment. But just when it seemed the referee should intervene, Hernandez suddenly landed a big right hand off the ropes, sending Foster all the way to the opposite side of the ring. A still-woozy but reinvigorated Hernandez followed up with some flurries in an attempt to get the dazed and defensive Foster to drop his guard. Hernandez then lobbed big overhand rights to the head of Foster, who fired back with an overhand left. At this point, the crowd was going wild. They chanted “Rocky!” and everyone in the building was on their feet. Foster lifted Hernandez’s head straight to the sky with a right uppercut, but the spirited challenger kept throwing punches as Foster continued to counter until the sound of the bell. 

Foster ended up closing the show in the final round by stopping Hernandez (TKO). However, Round 11 was like a scene from a movie. It also laid the groundwork for Foster to come out victorious in a fight where he was trailing on the two of the official scorecards (grossly behind on judge Nicholas Hidalgo’s tally, which had Hernandez up 110-99 going into Round 12).

RUNNERS-UP:

Christian Mbilli vs. Carlos Gongora (Round 8) – Dangerous southpaw spoiler Gongora appeared to be on his way to an upset victory on March 23, but unbeaten super middleweight contender Mbilli raged back with a vicious offensive attack that put him right back into the fight.

Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder (Round 9) – Ryder was rocked by a Canelo right hand but, with a badly busted nose and blood streaming down his lacerated face, the underdog challenger would show tremendous heart and come back strong to finish the round in front of 50,000 fans in the super middleweight champion’s native Guadalajara.

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois (Round 5) – It was the most discussed low blow in years as the unified Ring Magazine heavyweight champ went down from a right to the beltline that could have been ruled a legal punch. Usyk received almost four minutes to recover (referee Luis Pabon practically insisted) and was able to stun Dubois with a pair of left crosses before the end of the round.

Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez (Round 12) – The decision for this December fight-of-the-year candidate came down to the dramatic final round as Espinoza went for broke, scoring a knockdown on the defending featherweight titleholder.