Is BJ Flores Ready for Yoan Hernandez?
There’s little question that BJ Flores has deserved a title shot for some time now. At 31, the American fighter has been near the top of the cruiserweight division for some time now but has yet to get a title shot. He’s the fifth-ranked cruiserweight by BoxRec.com and is highly rated by several world title organizations. However, getting a title shot has eluded Flores. While other boxers with lesser resumes have been able to fight for titles, Flores (24-0, 15 KOs) has had to watch like everyone else.
Flores’ frustration with not getting a title shot reached a breaking point last year when he decided to take a break from the sport and go into mixed martial arts. This didn’t turn out as Flores hoped, as he never fought a bout for the Shine organization which signed him to a multi-year contract. However, Flores wasn’t forgotten after returning to the sport from a nearly year-long break. It was announced in early July that the IBF was ordering a title eliminator between Flores and Yoan Pablo Hernandez with the winner taking on current IBF champion Steve Cunningham.
Top contenders will give top-quality fight
The bout is one of the more attractive cruiserweight fights in recent memory on paper. Both Flores and Hernandez (22-1, 11 KOs) have excellent amateur backgrounds. Flores was a former National Golden Gloves winner at light heavyweight and a two-time United States Amateur champion at heavyweight while Hernandez represented Cuba at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Many people think that the match-up will come down to Hernandez’s boxing skill versus Flores’ more impressive power. Even Flores recently acknowledged that Hernandez might be able to outbox him but he thinks that his continual pressure will eventually wear down the Cuban fighter.
There is definitely a major prize at stake for Flores: a fight against Cunningham, considered by most people to be the best cruiserweight in the world. Flores has wanted a bout against Cunningham for several years. In fact, he specifically accused Cunningham of ducking him and said that not being able to get a fight against Cunningham was one of the reasons that he temporarily left boxing and went into mixed martial arts.
Although the fight has not been officially signed, it appears likely that the fight against Hernandez will take place in Germany. This underscores the fact that there is little interest in the cruiserweight division in the United States. A win over Hernandez and a potential date with Cunningham could change all of that. If two highly-skilled and well-regarded American fighters were squaring off for a world title, it might be enough for the bout to take place in the United States and possibly even be picked up by a major cable network like ESPN, Showtime or HBO. It could be just the shot in the arm that the cruiserweight division needs (especially in America).
But all of this is putting the cart before the horse. In order to earn a date with Cunningham, Flores first has to get past a tough opponent in Hernandez. The Cuban has won his last eight fights since being stopped in the third round by Wayne Braithwaite in March 2008. Something that bodes well for the more powerful Flores in this fight is that Hernandez has a questionable chin - he was stopped in the third round by Braithwaite and knocked down (and almost out) before beating lightly regarded Michael Simms.
While Flores might have some ring rust from his time trying to learn the nuances of MMA, the road back won’t be as steep as if he had been doing nothing during the time off. His strength and endurance should be fine as the workout routine needed for MMA is similar to boxing. If he can shake off the early rust, there’s no reason that Flores can’t beat Hernandez and earn the title shot he’s been dreaming about for years.
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