As all true fans of boxing know, the lower weight divisions are all too often over-looked and ignored by both the casual fan and the TV companies in the US and in Britain. This is one of the great shames of our sport as we often miss some absolute tear ups such as last years fight of the year contender between the then WBC Light Flyweight champion Adrian Hernandez (now 24-2-1, 15) and current champion Kompayak Porpramook (now 46-3, 31).
When the two men first met, last December they went at it like caged animals beating the ever loving snot out of each other in a high tempo all action war before Hernandez was stopped in round 10 in the Thai capital of Bangkok. Sadly unless you were a true die hard fan you almost certainly missed watching the fight live and had to go to youtube some days later to watch the bout. Thankfully this coming weekend, fans who unfortunately missed out on the first bout between the two men get to see it all over again as Porpramook travels to Mexico to face Hernandez in a highly anticipated rematch.
Despite being the champion, and having a win already over Hernandez, Porpramook will likely go into this bout as the under-dog. Not only is he the older man by several years but he's also having to travel to the unfamiliar surroundings of Mexico in what will be only his second fight outside of his homeland (last time he traveled was to Australia where he was beaten by Hussein Hussein over 6 years ago). Despite this he will likely feel confident of scoring another win over Hernandez who was a broken man at the end of their first bout.
Sadly however things haven't been great for Porpramook since the first fight with Hernandez and in his first defense he was lucky to retain his title as unheralded Filipino Jonathan Taconing genuinely gave him hell, before he was bailed out by a ringside Dr. after a clash of heads. It's very unlikely that Porpramook will be given any similar favours in Mexico.
With 49 fights behind him, the tough Thai is experienced but isn't the most skilled and is more of a "warrior" than a boxer, willing to go in to a slug fest. For Porpramook this may well be out of necessity as he's a very short fighter (listed at 5′ 0½″, though I think he's slightly taller than that) and needs to get inside to be effective. Thankfully, inside Porpramook has amazing work rate a solid defense and a very hurtful body attack (that was used to great effect when the men met for the first time).
Whilst Porpramook hasn't had the best of times since he claimed the title, Hernandez has looked very solid and bounced back well in defeating two relatively abject opponents who were there for little more than to rebuild the confidence of Hernandez. Though in all honesty Hernandez did deserve an easy fight or two having had a very tough 2011 with fights against Porpramook, Gideon Buthelezi (the the IBO champion) and Gilberto Keb Baas (the then WBC champion).
Despite only being 26 years old Hernandez has faced a relative who's who of the lower divisions and has been in with Rodel Mayol, Eric Ortiz, Oscar Ibarra, Gilberto Keb Bass (twice), Ganigan Lopez, Erik Ramirez and of course Porpramook.
In terms of stature Hernandez is the direct opposite of the champion. He's tall (listed at 5'8" though I don't think he's quite that tall) and rangy and often he looks like he's in the wrong division, however like Porpramook he appears to like a good old tear up, which is the Mexican way I guess. Despite being huge at the weight Hernandez has a solid work rate himself and although he may not be the hardest single-shot puncher he lands a lot of hurtful shots that can mark up opponents and break them mentally.
Despite Porpramook winning last time the two men met, I have to go with Hernandez here. He's at home, he's in front of his own fans and he's away from the humid and hot conditions of Bangkok. It won't be easy, Porpramook won't just want to give up his title, however I think Hernandez will do enough to get the decision in another memorable war.
Prediction-Hernandez UD12
nice call, i hope you layed some cash on these fights!
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