The call may have come at the last minute, but “Big” Rodney Hernandez, a heavy-handed pugilist from Modesto, has been preparing for this moment his entire life.
Hernandez will fight unbeaten Julian Pollard for the inaugural Big Knockout Boxing heavyweight championship belt Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
In a surprisingly late plot twist, Hernandez replaces “King of the Ring” Tyrone Spong in the signature bout on the Big Knockout Boxing 3 card. Spong, a popular Netherlands-based kickboxer and budding boxer, pulled out of the title fight after sustaining an undisclosed injury during training.
His misfortune is Hernandez’s gain. The pride of Bad to the Bonz gym in Modesto, Hernandez has a professional record of 7-2-1. As an amateur, he won 28 of his 31 bouts.
Saturday night, he’ll trade punches with a pure knockout artist. Pollard (6-0) won his Big Knockout Boxing debut with a fourth-round TKO over Elijah McCall. All six of Pollard’s victories have come by knockout.
Pollard agreed to the last-minute change.
Big Knockout Boxing is similar to conventional boxing with a few wrinkles. There are no ropes or traditional ring. Instead, boxers engage in “The Pit,” a smaller, circular ring about 17 feet wide. By putting the boxers in close proximity, Big Knockout Boxing forces the action.
If there was any confusion about the organization’s sole purpose and premise, its slogan pulls no punches: “No ropes, no ring, more knockouts.”
The rounds are also shorter – two minutes, as opposed to three in conventional boxing and five in MMA. There are fewer rounds, as well. Saturday’s heavyweight title bout will go seven rounds. All other fights are five rounds.
A knockout will carry a purse of $30,000. The card will also incorporate the HitChip, which measures punching power and velocity. Boxers who deliver the “punch of the night” and “BKB HitChip hardest hit” will be awarded $10,000 bonuses.
Joining Hernandez and Pollard on the card are:
▪ Middleweight: Shane Mosley Jr. (Pomona) vs. Jason Kelly (Boston);
▪ Light heavyweight: Chris Spang (Las Vegas) vs. Samuel Horowitz (Chicago);
▪ Junior middleweight: Urmat Ryskeldiev (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Marcus Willis (Fort Myers, Fla.);
▪ Junior middleweight: Janks Trotter (Calgary, Alberta) vs. Ed Paredes (Hollywood, Fla.);
▪ Lightweight: Travis Castellon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) vs. Arturo Quintero (San Jose);
▪ Junior middleweight: Anthony Castellon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) vs. Antonio Johnson (St. Paul, Minn.).
Hernandez is no stranger to overcoming long odds. Hernandez used the sweet science to escape a hardscrabble youth and has been an inspiration to the boxers at Bad to the Bonz, young and old.
“Growing up as a troubled youth, he has had his ups and downs …” read his biography on the gym website. “But Rodney has completely turned his life around. (He’s) an inspiration to all young boxers in the gym.”
Hernandez has been a member of Bad to the Bonz for about a decade. The 2,000-square-foot facility on Seventh Street is named after professional boxers Joey “L’il Bad” Garcia and Tony “Bonz” Avila.
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas
TV: Pay per view
Hernandez will fight unbeaten Julian Pollard for the inaugural Big Knockout Boxing heavyweight championship belt Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
In a surprisingly late plot twist, Hernandez replaces “King of the Ring” Tyrone Spong in the signature bout on the Big Knockout Boxing 3 card. Spong, a popular Netherlands-based kickboxer and budding boxer, pulled out of the title fight after sustaining an undisclosed injury during training.
His misfortune is Hernandez’s gain. The pride of Bad to the Bonz gym in Modesto, Hernandez has a professional record of 7-2-1. As an amateur, he won 28 of his 31 bouts.
Pollard agreed to the last-minute change.
Big Knockout Boxing is similar to conventional boxing with a few wrinkles. There are no ropes or traditional ring. Instead, boxers engage in “The Pit,” a smaller, circular ring about 17 feet wide. By putting the boxers in close proximity, Big Knockout Boxing forces the action.
If there was any confusion about the organization’s sole purpose and premise, its slogan pulls no punches: “No ropes, no ring, more knockouts.”
A knockout will carry a purse of $30,000. The card will also incorporate the HitChip, which measures punching power and velocity. Boxers who deliver the “punch of the night” and “BKB HitChip hardest hit” will be awarded $10,000 bonuses.
Joining Hernandez and Pollard on the card are:
▪ Middleweight: Shane Mosley Jr. (Pomona) vs. Jason Kelly (Boston);
▪ Junior middleweight: Urmat Ryskeldiev (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Marcus Willis (Fort Myers, Fla.);
▪ Junior middleweight: Janks Trotter (Calgary, Alberta) vs. Ed Paredes (Hollywood, Fla.);
▪ Lightweight: Travis Castellon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) vs. Arturo Quintero (San Jose);
▪ Junior middleweight: Anthony Castellon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) vs. Antonio Johnson (St. Paul, Minn.).
Hernandez is no stranger to overcoming long odds. Hernandez used the sweet science to escape a hardscrabble youth and has been an inspiration to the boxers at Bad to the Bonz, young and old.
“Growing up as a troubled youth, he has had his ups and downs …” read his biography on the gym website. “But Rodney has completely turned his life around. (He’s) an inspiration to all young boxers in the gym.”
Hernandez has been a member of Bad to the Bonz for about a decade. The 2,000-square-foot facility on Seventh Street is named after professional boxers Joey “L’il Bad” Garcia and Tony “Bonz” Avila.
James Burns: 209-578-2150, @jburns1980
Big Knockout Boxing 3
Main event: Rodney Hernandez (7-2-1) of Bad to the Bonz gym in Modesto meets Julian Pollard (6-0) of Brockton, Mass., for the heavyweight championship.When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas
TV: Pay per view
1 comment:
I've boxed with this kid Hernandez...and wish him all the luck in the world...
Mark "Father Time" Connolly
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