Unanimous Decision Over Ji-Hoon Kim
Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera is back in the win column after his convincing defeat of his South Korean challenger Ji-Hoon Kim at the Omega Products Outdoor Event Center in Corona. Their 10-round battle was the main event on a special Thursday edition of ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights.” The card was promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions in association with Banner Promotions.
Local fighter Herrera (19-3, 7 KOs) was looking for victory after two losses in 2012 to Karim Mayfield and Mike Alvarado. The Riverside boxer had previously beaten Ruslan Provodnikov, Cristian Favela, Mookie Pendarvis, among others and had won his IBF North American belt in his Provodnikov war. But after Mauricio’s two deficits to Mayfield and Alvarado, there were whispers of “What’s next for this Southern California favorite”? Harshest critics wondered if the SoCal pug had any gas left in the tank especially after his brutal clash with “Mile High” Alvarado.
On Thursday night, the tough Herrera silenced any doubters and, arguably, gained more fans in his pursuit of another W on his ledger. Ji-Hoon Kim (24-9, 18 KOs) is known for his fan-friendly style of throwing tons of punches and never backing down. His ring name is the “Volcano” and his aggressive assault pitted against Herrera’s own ferocity promised fireworks in the ring.
The junior welterweights both gave it their all in the outdoor ring at the Corona site. Mauricio’s shots connected on the face and body of his Korean foe; while Kim kept up his game plan of all offense, little defense. The scrappy Ji-Hoon, by way of Philly, courageously tried his best, firing away and trying to trap Mauricio in the corner. Herrera suffered a cut under his eye toward the later rounds but consistently outboxed Kim while on his way to a unanimous decision.
The hometown hero remained focused, slugging out a dominating UD after 10 rounds of battle. Employing a vicious uppercut and good inside fighting, Mauricio took the fight to his opponent. Slugging it out till the final bell, the two prizefighters went the distance. When the bell rang, a triumphant Herrera hopped on the ring post, bumping fists with brother Albert Herrera before being lifted up on the shoulders of his coach Willy Silva. As they circled the ring, the team was clearly relishing this winning performance. With the judges’ scores of 99-91 (Max De Luca), 99-91 (Pat Connolly) and 98-92 (Marty Denkin), the victory was officially sealed. Full of heart, Ji-Hoon Kim was on the short end of the stick once again, his second straight loss (to Herrera and Ray Beltran). His team was no doubt disappointed but hope to go back to the drawing board and, hopefully, Kim will bounce back in the future.
After the Herrera-Kim headlining bout, I caught up with Team Herrera to hear their thoughts on the victory. Mauricio is trained by California Boxing Hall of Famer Willy Silva and comes from a fighting family well known in the Inland Empire. His brother is pro fighter Albert Herrera and their father Mauricio Herrera Sr. has long been in both the boys’ corner.
A big group of family and friends were celebrating Junior’s win, waiting for their favorite fighter after the bout. Mauricio, changing out of his trunks into a suit vest, joined the large crowd that gathered to greet him.
“I’m really happy with my fight,” the Mexican warrior told me, adding, “I hit him with everything I had but he just wouldn’t go down!”
Herrera is one that will never be in a boring fight. So what’s next for the Riverside prizefighter promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions’ Ken Thompson and Alex Camponovo?
“I may be fighting in July!” Mauricio replied with a chuckle, on being back in the ring soon. “I know…They wanna get me back in there. Looks like I don’t get much of break!”
And with the satisfaction of being declared the winner, “El Maestro” is more than happy to get back into the gym, always ready for the next fight.
His promoter Ken Thompson was thrilled with Thursday’s event telling me after the fights: “This was a great night of boxing and I thought Mauricio did a fabulous job!”
As fans kept coming up to greet him, Mauricio also kept his eye on the walkout bout of Hector “Teco” Serrano. “He was my sparring partner,” he commented.
With wife Vanessa by his side, the Herreras were planning for a great victory celebration, coinciding with Cinco de Mayo.
After his ESPN victory and his career on the upswing, the junior welter can look ahead to the future with more thrilling battles ahead.
Photos by Michele Chong