Prior to his ring walk in Cancun, Mexico, O’Shaquie Foster may have been lauded for defensive skills, but fans today learned what kind of heart Foster has in the ring when faced with true adversity. Behind the cards, Foster landed just the correct number of straight rights to shock the home crowd and surprise DAZN’s subscribers.
Foster was on the road without a promoter or manager but defending his WBC Super Featherweight belt. At 130lbs, Foster has pulled off the upset against Rey Vargas’ to obtain the belt, but now has surpassed expectations by producing a KO against a spirited challenger, perhaps, his toughest bout ever.
Broadcasting From Cancun, Mexico
DAZN’s Matchroom Boxing had an excellent undercard for the October 27, 2023, event in Cancun, Mexico. Gabe Rosado, Claudia Trejos and Chris Mannix were on hand for commentary which was fair. Rocky Hernandez was very close to being 130lb WBC champion per the scorecard.
Fight of the Year?
In a fight that he was near losing, Foster was able to take the decision away from the judges. To be fair, the cards seemed reasonable given the formidable performance from Hernandez. Eddie Hearn had this to say on Twitter:
Round 11
For Gabe Rosado and most people, Hernandez was almost knocked down but managed to stun Foster who was over ambitious and was clipped with an overhand right. For the last 20 seconds, Foster and Hernandez. Foster has always fared well in the latter half of the fight due to great conditioning.
However, Hernandez had the right come-forward gameplan and was able to frustrate Foster with body shots and high intensity inside fighting. Just a bit more power would have had a more emphatic impact on Foster. The more tantalizing fight at this weight is a bout with Oscar Valdez who could have that thumping power needed for Foster while also more sound defensive composure.
Rocky Hernandez controlled the pace for much of the fight. Hernandez proved to have elusive waist and head movement, fending off through movement Foster’s tepid jabs in the 10th. However, in the 9th round fatigue was starting to set in and Foster did have the ability to land some convincing straight right hands.