Yoan Pablo Hernández Explained

Yoan Pablo Hernández
Nickname:Iron Man
Weight:Cruiserweight
Height:6 ft 4 in
Reach:77 in
Nationality:
  • Cuban
  • German
Birth Date:28 October 1984
Birth Place:Pinar del Río, Cuba
Style:Southpaw
Total:31
Wins:29
Ko:14
Losses:2

Yoan Pablo Hernández Suárez (born October 28, 1984) is a Cuban-German professional boxer.[1] He is a former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and Ring magazine titles between 2011 and 2015, as well as the WBA interim cruiserweight title in 2011. He is the half-brother of Yoel Romero, a freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist.[2]

Amateur career

Yoan Pablo Hernández started boxing with the Cuban national team at a very young age. He got silver at the Cadet World Championships (under 17) 2001 at 201 lbs/91 kg. He won the heavyweight Junior World Championships in 2002 in Santiago de Cuba but lost twice to countryman Odlanier Solís and was forced to go down in weight. At light heavyweight (178 lbs) in 2003 Hernández won the silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo where he lost to Ramiro Reducindo.

He participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics for his native country. There he was defeated in the second round of the light heavyweight (81 kg) division by Russia's Evgeny Makarenko, a double world champion in the event.

Although he was considered one of the top prospects in Cuban boxing, he defected to Germany, and is now based in Berlin, Germany.[3]

Amateur highlights

2005 Cuban national champion (light heavyweight)

Professional career

Cruiserweight

Hernández was a fast and hard-punching boxer who competed entirely at cruiserweight. Hernández knocked out Daniel Bispo in the first round to win the vacant WBA Fedelatin Cruiserweight Championship. On December 29, 2007, he knocked out world title challenger Mohamed Azzaoui to retain his WBA Fedelatin title and win the vacant WBC Latino title but suffered his first defeat on March 29, 2008 when he lost via 3rd-round TKO to ex-champ Wayne Braithwaite of Guyana after controlling the match for the first two rounds and even knocking Braithwaite down in the 1st round. Hernández got too cocky in the 3rd and decided to shoot it out with him resulting in Braithwaite knocking Hernández down 3 times. He later won a wide decision over prospect Aaron Williams.

On September 19, 2009 Hernández defeated Enad Licina by a wide UD for the IBF Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title, becoming the first Cuban to hold a version of the IBF title since it was created.

On March 13, 2010 Hernández made his first defense of the IBF Inter-Continental title by beating Cesar David Crenz by unanimous decision.

On February 12, 2011 Hernández won the Interim WBA Cruiserweight title by knocking out Steve Herelius. With this latest win he extended his undefeated streak to 10 fights since the defeat to Braithwaite and improved his overall record to 24-1 (13 knockouts).

Hernández vs. Cunningham I & II

On 1 October 2011, Hernández defeated The Ring No. 1 Cruiserweight, Steve Cunningham, by sixth round technical decision for the IBF Cruiserweight Championship. The fight was stopped due to Hernández being cut by an illegal headbutt, though the fight was not without controversy. Hernández knocked Cunningham down with a counter left hook in the first round and seemed to be badly hurt, but referee Mickey Vann decided to let the fight continue after what seemed like a controversial slow count.[4] [5] Cunningham made a comeback during the second and third rounds, hitting Hernández with body shots in the second and becoming more aggressive during the third. However the latter round was also marred with controversy as Hernández was hit with an accidental headbutt that caused a cut and that many felt was intentional, with referee Vann not stopping the fight or even giving a warning to Cunningham. During the fourth round both fighters seems about equal, with Cunningham controlling the pace with his jab and Hernández successfully landing a combo. During the fifth round, Hernández accidentally hit Cunningham behind the head when referee Vann attempted to break up a clinch. During the sixth and final round the corner of Hernández as well as the ringside physician inspected the cut caused by Cunningham's headbutt. Afterwards Hernández seemed ready to resume with the round when the referee stopped the fight due to the physician deeming Hernández unfit to continue. The score cards were 57–56 for Cunningham and 58–55 and 59–54 for Hernández.[6]

Hernández and Cunningham had a rematch on 4 February 2012. The winner of this fight was to be crowned the new The Ring Cruiserweight Champion. Hernández won via unanimous decision.

Outside boxing

Hernández played the part of Joe Louis in the 2010 German film Max Schmeling.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
31Loss29–2Kevin JohnsonKO7 (8), 22 Aug 2020
30Win29–1Firat Arslan1216 Aug 2014
29Win28–1Aleksandr AlekseyevTKO10 (12), 23 Nov 2013
28Win27–1Troy RossUD1215 Sep 2012
27Win26–1Steve CunninghamUD124 Feb 2012
26Win25–1Steve Cunningham6 (12), 1 Oct 2011
25Win24–1Steve HéréliusKO7 (12), 12 Feb 2011
24Win23–1Ali IsmailovKO1 (12), 18 Dec 2010
23Win22–1Zack PageUD85 Jun 2010
22Win21–1César David CrenzUD1212 Mar 2010
21Win20–1Enad LičinaUD1217 Oct 2009
20Win19–1Aaron WilliamsUD89 May 2009
19Win18–1Micky SteedsKO5 (8), 28 Feb 2009
18Win17–1Michael Simms825 Oct 2008
17Win16–1Santiago De PaulaTKO5 (8), 30 Aug 2008
16Win15–1Stefan RaaffRTD3 (8)7 Jun 2008
15Loss14–1Wayne BraithwaiteTKO3 (12), 29 Mar 2008
14Win14–0Mohamed AzzaouiKO3 (12), 29 Dec 2007
13Win13–0Ismail AbdoulUD827 Oct 2007
12Win12–0Daniel BispoKO1 (10), 18 Aug 2007
11Win11–0Thomas HansvollKO1 (8), 23 Jun 2007
10Win10–0Hector Alfredo AvilaUD814 Apr 2007
9Win9–0Jason CurryKO1 (8), 16 Dec 2006
8Win8–0Jean Claude BikoiUD823 Sep 2006
7Win7–0Carl GathrightKO1 (8), 13 May 2006
6Win6–0Ervin Slonka3 (6), 8 Apr 2006
5Win5–0Aleksejs KosobokovsUD64 Mar 2006
4Win4–0Aleksejs Kosobokovs2 (6), 10 Dec 2005
3Win3–0Mounir Chibi412 Nov 2005
2Win2–0Vladislav Druso1 (4), 10 Sep 2005
1Win1–0David Vicena2 (4), 3 Sep 2005

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Box-Weltmeister Yoan Pablo Hernandez wird Deutscher. 28 May 2015. www.t-online.de. 10 March 2013. 15 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130215002806/http://sport.t-online.de/box-weltmeister-yoan-pablo-hernandez-wird-deutscher/id_61439056/index. dead.
  2. Web site: Former Olympian Yoel Romero signs with Strikeforce, will face Feijão in debut. MMAfighting.com. Mike Chiappetta. 27 July 2011. 6 November 2013.
  3. Web site: Hoffen auf goldene Zukunft. Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. de. 18 November 2013.
  4. Web site: Yoan Pablo Hernandez: The Ref, He Saved Cunningham! - Boxing News. boxingscene.com. 7 October 2011 .
  5. Web site: Yoan Pablo Hernandez Upsets Steve Cunningham Via Suspect Technical Decision. Scott Christ. Bad Left Hook. October 2011 .
  6. Web site: Cunningham and Hernandez Mystery From Start to Finish!. doghouseboxing.com.