Mauricio Herrera (21-4 KO’s 7) made his professional boxing debut at the age of 27. The learning curve Herrera has undergone in his career has definitely involved growing pains, such as suffering back-to-back losses against Mike Dallas Jr. and Mike Alvarado. Then, he received the opportunity of a lifetime at age 33 to face Danny Garcia, who was fresh off the biggest win of his career thus far against Lucas Matthysse.
The bout was held in Puerto Rico and was specifically designed to showcase Garcia in front of his parents’ native country. Most boxing experts gave Herrera minimal chance to pull off the upset. As the bout proceeded, Herrera began thoroughly out boxing the Philadelphian native, but the final verdict did not render in his favor. Garcia received a highly disputed majority decision victory.
Herrera, regarded as the true 140lbs champion by some, became more known in the boxing world after his performance against Garcia, but was still unable to receive the star quality matchups he deserved. He went on to defeat Johan Perez by majority decision and is now set to face the highly touted prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. (21-0 KO’s 15).
The majority of fighters do not like to overlook upcoming bouts, but Herrera told Behindthegloves.com, “I would love Matthysse. I know he’s a tough hard puncher and I think we can put on a great show together. I think Matthysse would be a good name.”
He also explained that despite the controversial loss to Garcia, he still feels as if he’s the true champion.
“I feel that I have all the belts even though I don’t have Danny’s belt. That’s the way I try to carry myself and have that confidence that I am a true champion. I should be champion so I carry that confidence in every fight now.”
