An amped up crowd piled into the Desert of the Star Arena at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino in Primm, NV to watch top welterweights duke it out on the Showtime ShoBox: The New Generation card Friday night. The crowd was close to even on the one they were rooting for, but at the end of the night it was the fans of Freddy Hernandez (29-1 20 KO’s) cheering the loudest.

Hernandez entered the fight ranked the 11th ranked fighter in the WBC’s welterweight division, but after a resounding victory over contender “Mighty” Mike Anchondo (30-3 19 KO’s), he will most likely be moving up those rankings, and likely those of the other major sanctioning bodies, too.

Anchondo was noticeably the smaller man, as the two fighters heard the referee’s final instructions in the center of the ring just prior to the start of the match. From the start of the fight it was clear Hernandez would enjoy his five inch height and eight inch reach advantages. The first round was the best of the fight for Anchondo, as he successfully got in and out, landing successful body shots to Hernandez’s mid-section. Even though Anchondo won the round, you could see that Hernandez was pawing his jab in order to gauge distance for his right hand later in the fight.

Anchondo again started off the second round well, landing a right hand in the center of the ring, but in the second half of this round the tide changed for good. Hernandez landed a right hand that stunned Anchondo, but Anchondo recovered quickly. In just a couple of rounds he wasn’t so lucky. Anchondo continued to use a swarming style to get in and land some solid combinations, but because of him getting caught with the big blow, it was clearly a Hernandez round.

In the third round the Anchondo crowd tried to get behind their man, chanting “Mighty Mike” as it was clear he had an uphill battle. Hernandez seemed to come to the decision that Anchondo couldn’t hurt him, and he became the aggressor for the first time in the fight. Anchondo continued to throw combinations, but more and more Hernandez started finding his range. To make matters worse for Anchondo, he suffered an accidental thumb to the eye just as the bell rang to end the round.

Thirty seconds into round four, Hernandez landed a straight right that stunned Anchondo badly. Hernandez then landed another right, dropping Anchondo. Anchondo was up quickly, permitting referee Robert Byrd to allow him to continue. Anchondo couldn’t get his legs under him, but to his credit he continued throwing punches. Hernandez landed another punch, which sent Anchondo wobbling to the corner. Byrd quickly stepped in, ending the fight at 1:38 of the fourth round.

With the victory, Hernandez gets one step closer to a major fight in the welterweight division. Anchondo, who seems terribly undersized to be a competitor on the top level of the division, contemplates his next move.
 

In the opening televised bout, Luis Franco improved to 7-0 with 5 KO’s with a comfortable unanimous decision against Wilton Hilario (12-2-1 9 KO’s). Hilario’s best offense in the first three rounds came by a variety of low blows and head butts. In the first round Hilario was warned for both a head butt and a low blow. Hilario was again warned for a head butt and a low blow. From media row it even appeared that in one series Hilario openly charged with his head, in which referee Jay Nady agreed. Finally in the third round Hilario landed his first non-illegal effective blow of the evening, a body shot, only to immediately follow that with another low blow, this time costing him a point. For the remaining five rounds Hilario behaved himself, for the most part.

Despite the ugly fight, Franco still had plenty of time to show flashes of brilliance, throwing dazzling combinations that left the crowd “ooohing” and “ahhing”. In addition to his offensive wizardry, he also showed great head movement in getting out of the way of Hilario’s sometimes looping shots.

After the first three foul-contested rounds, the fight settled down into a competitive boxing match. Hilario was never totally outclassed, but just didn’t have enough offense to win too many rounds, winning just one on the Pound4Pound scorecard. The judges agreed with the Pound4Pound card, for the most part, scoring the fight: 80-71, 78-73, and 77-74.

Despite only 8 fights, Franco is looking to move up the Super Featherweight rankings in short order. After nearly 400 career amateur bouts, including wins against Guillermo Rigondeaux, Erislandy Lara, and Yuriorkis Gamboa (all undefeated in the pros), it seemingly makes sense that he is looking for big fights soon.
 

The knockout of the night award goes to Anthony Dirrell (19-0 16 KO’s). Dirrell, hoping to make up for lost time due to illnesses, came one stop closer to joining his brother among the elite super middleweights with a first round knockout of Jimmy Campbell (11-5 8 KO’s). In the very first round Dirrell landed a straight right that dazed his opponent long enough for him to follow that show with a left hook that sending his opponent hard to the canvas. Campbell was on his feet right at the count reached ten, but was in no shape to continue.
 

Chris Avalos continued to rebound from his first career loss, defeating Felipe Almanza by third round TKO. Almanza, 17-18-4 8 KO’s, seemed to have little interest in fighting this evening. In the first round he was warned for a low blow, one of the few punches he threw in the round. In the second he spent most of the time moving laterally around the ring. Again, the only meaningful punch he threw this round was a low blow, earning another warning. Almanza was hurt by a body shot in the third, and took a knee. Almanza spent the next few seconds complaining to referee Robert Byrd that he thought it was a low blow. Byrd continually asked him if he wanted to continue. Almanza continued to complain and Byrd, having enough of the theatrics, stopped the fight, awarding Avalos his 17th win in 18 fights, including his 14th win inside the distance.
 

In women’s action, Lucia Larcinese (4-7) dropped a six-round decision to Crystal Hoy (4-2-2 KO’s). The first half of the fight was a tactical battle, with both fighters throwing just one or two punches at a time. In the second half of the fight the action picked up, with Hoy winning the majority of the exchanges. The judges scored it 60-54 twice, and 59-55.
 

Emmanuel Medina improved to 3-0 with 3 KO’s with a third round KO over Raul Gonzalez-Duhart (2-3 2 KO’s).
 

In the opening bout of the evening, Joel Diaz moved to 2-0 1 KO, with a four-round unanimous decision over Hugo Ramos, now 3-7-2 1 KO. Ramos was dropped in the second, en route to losing by scores of 40-34 and 40-35, twice.