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The Rivals

Date	September 9, 1995
Venue	Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBO Lightweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Oscar De La Hoya Genaro Hernández Nickname The Golden Boy Chicanito Hometown East Los Angeles, California, U.S. Los Angeles, California, U.S. Purse $500,000 Pre-fight record 18–0 32–0–1 Age 22 years, 7 months 30 years, 3 months Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) Weight 135 lb (61 kg) 133 lb (60 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBO Junior Lightweight champion Former WBA Super Featherweight champion
Result
De La Hoya wins via 6th-round corner retirement

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Genaro Hernández, billed as The Rivals was a professional boxing match contested on September 9, 1995 for the WBO lightweight title.

Background

A fight between 2-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya and former WBA super featherweight champion had been in the works for nearly three years. Hernández had first been offered $500,000 by De La Hoya promoter Bob Arum in October 1992 to face the yet-to-debut De La Hoya for Hernández's super featherweight title some point in 1993 provided Hernández first get past his challenger Raúl Pérez. But after Hernández beat Pérez convincingly in June 1993, Arum rescinded the offer and instead went on to face the less experienced Jimmi Bredahl for the WBO version of the super featherweight title the following year. Then in December 1994, Hernández was offered another chance to face De La Hoya, this time receiving a $300,000 offer to move up in weight to challenge De La Hoya for his WBO lightweight title, however, feeling insulted that this second offer was $200,000 less then the previous offer from two years prior and De La Hoya was scheduled to make an over $1,000,000 purse despite holding a then–lesser WBO title, Hernández balked at the chance.

De La Hoya instead moved on to meet IBF lightweight champion in a unification bout in May 1995. De La Hoya, making his debut as a pay-per-view headliner, easily beat Ruelas, knocking him out in the second round to unify the WBO and IBF lightweight titles. The IBF mandated De La Hoya defend their title against their number-one ranked mandatory challenger Miguel Julio, but De La Hoya opted to vacate the title at a New York City press conference in July and instead announced that he would finally meet Hernández that September in what would be his fifth defense of his WBO lightweight title. Upon the announcement of his fight with De La Hoya, Hernández, who was set to earn a career high $500,000, would officially vacate his WBA super featherweight title after the WBA insisted he meet mandatory challenger Victor Hugo Paz before facing De La Hoya.

The Fight

Hernández started the fight solidly, winning the first round on 2 of the three judge's scorecards, but De La Hoya dominated the majority of the remainder of the fight, landing nearly half of his punches compared to Hernández, who only was able to connect with 23% of his punches and only took one round apiece on two scorecards after the first round. De La Hoya took a more tactical approach, bobbing and weaving constantly to avoid Hernández's punches but still battering him whenever there was an opening. In the sixth round, De La Hoya broke Hernández's nose early in the round after connecting with a right hook followed by a left directly Hernández's nose, which then began to bleed. Though Hernández finished the round, he had trouble breathing in his corner between rounds and claimed to be in severe pain due to his injury, first informing his brother and trainer and then referee Richard Steele that he no longer wanted to continue, after which the fight was stopped, giving De La Hoya the victory via corner retirement.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

^Note 1 For WBO Lightweight title
^Note 2 For WBU Light Heavyweight title
^Note 3 For WBU Featherweight title
^Note 4 For Mexico and NABF Super Bantamweight titles

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO

References

1. L.A.’s Unknown Champion : There’s De La Hoya, the Ruelases . . . and Hernandez (?), L.A. Times article, 1995-03-28, Retrieved on 2024-12-11
2. De La Hoya Scores Second-Round Knockout of Ruelas, N.Y. Times article, 1995-05-07, Retrieved on 2014-03-17
3. De La Hoya Gives Back I.B.F. Title, N.Y. Times article, 1995-07-13 Retrieved on 2024-12-11
4. Oscar Revolts Against the IBF, N.Y. Daily News article, 1995-07-13 Retrieved on 2024-12-11
5. De La Hoya Wins Bout And Breaks Foe's Nose, N.Y. Times article, 1995-09-10 Retrieved on 2024-12-12
6. "BoxRec - event".

• 1995 in boxing
• 1995 in sports in Nevada
• September 1995 sports events in the United States
• Boxing matches at Caesars Palace
• Boxing matches involving Oscar De La Hoya
• Boxing matches refereed by Richard Steele
• Boxing on HBO
• Lightweight championship matches