By Jake Donovan
MEXICO CITY—Nery 'Pantera' Saguilan picked up his seventh straight win, scoring an emphatic 2nd round knockout of Wilfrido Buelvas in their headliner Saturday evening at Arena Coliseo in capital city.
The bout was made out of necessity as a stiff challenge for Hernandez, who needed to be tested if he is to be taken seriously as a flyweight contender. Juarez came out to a quick start, creating an uncomfortable scenario for the former two-time junior flyweight titlist.
Hernandez settled down in round three, turning an upset in the making into a competitive and entertaining scrap.
Confusion came at fight's end. The bout was stopped after what was believed to be an accidental clash of heads in round eight. Instead, the referee declared Hernandez was unfit to continue, sending the crowd into a frenzy as Juarez was awarded an 8th round stoppage victory in a major upset.
Juarez improves to 21-4 (12KOs) with the win, bouncing back from a points loss to Milan Melindo, who dropped a unanimous decision to 108 lb. titlist Javier Mendoza in a fight in which he should have been disqualified. While his previous conqueror fell well short, Juarez can move towards title aspirations of his own.
As for Hernandez, it's back to the drawing board though a legitimate question remains as to how much he has left. The fallen ex-champ falls to 30-4-1 (19KOs), suffering his second loss in the span of three fights. A bounceback win over Armando Torres last November came on the heels of a one-sided title reign-ending knockout loss to Naoya Inoue last April.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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