Unbeaten since July of 2005, Hernandez was offered heavy-hitter Antonio Mesquita a few weeks back, but after failing to reach an agreement regarding the fighting weight, skilled boxer Rashad Holloway was deferred to; with that proposition falling through as Holloway had a previous commitment. Corley was contacted and settled on this past weekend.
The tricky southpaw Corley is a former world title holder, who has some pop in his mitts as attested by his record of 36-12-1 and 21 KOs, facing the “Who’s Who” of the 140-pound division- Ener Julio, Randall Bailey, Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Junior Witter and Devon Alexander. Only having been stopped twice by Cotto and unheralded Jose Alfaro, the Washington D.C. fighter clearly has the edge in experience over Hernandez.
The fight should prove to be a very interesting one, as Corley has had relatively few bad fights and will be fighting for the first time outside of his comfort zone in the welterweight division.
Hernandez will surely try to offset his opponent’s experience factor with his four-inch reach advantage, height and the fact that Corley is coming off a split decision loss to Fariz Kazimov in Russia, in November of last year.
Staying busy since signing on with Gary Shaw Promotions and looking to close in on a world title shot, the 30-year old Hernandez needs to defeat Corley decisively if he is to take a step closer to a world title shot.
The co-feature to the Hernandez vs. Corley bout will pit Dominican Francisco Contreras, 12-0 (11), against Juan Castaneda, Jr., 16-2-1 (12), in an eight-round super lightweight bout.
The Gary Shaw Promotions card will take place this Friday at Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.
Doors open at 5:30 P.M., with the televised portion starting at 11 PM ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast.
Tickets are priced at: $25, $35, $45, $55 and $75 and are available at the box-office or by clicking to http://www.chumashcasino.com/entertainment/shobox.aspx
