Yoan Pablo Hernández


Yoan Pablo Hernández Suárez is a Cuban-German former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2014. He held the unified IBF and Ring magazine cruiserweight titles, as well as the WBA interim cruiserweight title. His half-brother is Yoel Romero, a freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist.

Amateur career

Yoan Pablo Hernández started boxing with the Cuban national team at a very young age. He got silver at the Cadet World Championships 2001 at 201 lbs/91 kg. He won the heavyweight Junior World Championships in 2002 in Santiago de Cuba but lost twice to countryman Odlanier Solís and was forced to go down in weight. At light heavyweight in 2003 Hernández won the silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo where he lost to Ramiro Reducindo.
He participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics for his native country. There he was defeated in the second round of the light heavyweight division by Russia's Evgeny Makarenko, a double world champion in the event.
Although he was considered one of the top prospects in Cuban boxing, he defected to Germany, and is now based in Berlin, Germany.

Amateur highlights

2005 Cuban national champion

Professional career

Cruiserweight

Hernández was a fast but light-punching boxer who competed entirely at cruiserweight. Hernández knocked out Daniel Bispo in the first round to win the vacant WBA Fedelatin Cruiserweight Championship. On December 29, 2007, he knocked out world title challenger Mohamed Azzaoui to retain his WBA Fedelatin title and win the vacant WBC Latino title but suffered his first defeat on March 29, 2008 when he lost via 3rd-round TKO to ex-champ Wayne Braithwaite of Guyana after controlling the match for the first two rounds and even knocking Braithwaite down in the 1st round. Hernández got too cocky in the 3rd and decided to shoot it out with him resulting in Braithwaite knocking Hernández down 3 times. He later won a wide decision over prospect Aaron Williams.
On September 19, 2009 Hernández defeated Enad Licina by a wide UD for the IBF Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title, becoming the first Cuban to hold a version of the IBF title since it was created.
On March 13, 2010 Hernández made his first defense of the IBF Inter-Continental title by beating Cesar David Crenz by unanimous decision.
On February 12, 2011 Hernández won the Interim WBA Cruiserweight title by knocking out Steve Herelius. With this latest win he extended his undefeated streak to 10 fights since the defeat to Braithwaite and improved his overall record to 24-1.

Hernández vs. Cunningham I & II

On 1 October 2011, Hernández defeated The Ring No. 1 Cruiserweight, Steve Cunningham, by sixth round technical decision for the IBF Cruiserweight Championship. The fight was stopped due to Hernández being cut by an illegal headbutt, though the fight was not without controversy. Hernández knocked Cunningham down with a counter left hook in the first round and seemed to be badly hurt, but referee Mickey Vann decided to let the fight continue after what seemed like a controversial slow count. Cunningham made a comeback during the second and third rounds, hitting Hernández with body shots in the second and becoming more aggressive during the third. However the latter round was also marred with controversy as Hernández was hit with an accidental headbutt that caused a cut and that many felt was intentional, with referee Vann not stopping the fight or even giving a warning to Cunningham. During the fourth round both fighters seems about equal, with Cunningham controlling the pace with his jab and Hernández successfully landing a combo. During the fifth round, Hernández accidentally hit Cunningham behind the head when referee Vann attempted to break up a clinch. During the sixth and final round the corner of Hernández as well as the ringside physician inspected the cut caused by Cunningham's headbutt. Afterwards Hernández seemed ready to resume with the round when the referee stopped the fight due to the physician deeming Hernández unfit to continue. The score cards were 57–56 for Cunningham and 58–55 and 59–54 for Hernández.
Hernández and Cunningham had a rematch on 4 February 2012. The winner of this fight was to be crowned the new The Ring Cruiserweight Champion. Hernández won via unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
30Win29–1 Firat Arslan1216 Aug 2014 Messe, Erfurt, GermanyRetained IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles
29Win28–1 Aleksandr AlekseyevTKO10, 1:3523 Nov 2013 Stechert Arena, Bamberg, GermanyRetained IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles
28Win27–1 Troy RossUD1215 Sep 2012 Stechert Arena, Bamberg, GermanyRetained IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles
27Win26–1 Steve CunninghamUD124 Feb 2012 Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, GermanyRetained IBF cruiserweight title;
Won vacant The Ring cruiserweight title
26Win25–1 Steve Cunningham6, 3:001 Oct 2011 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyWon IBF cruiserweight title;
Split TD after Hernández was cut from an accidental head clash
25Win24–1 Steve HéréliusKO7, 1:1912 Feb 2011 RWE-Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Mülheim, GermanyWon WBA interim cruiserweight title
24Win23–1 Ali IsmailovKO1, 2:2318 Dec 2010 Max Schmeling Halle, Berlin, Germany
23Win22–1 Zack PageUD85 Jun 2010 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany
22Win21–1 César David CrenzUD1212 Mar 2010 Max Schmeling Halle, Berlin, GermanyRetained IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
21Win20–1 Enad LičinaUD1217 Oct 2009 O2 World, Berlin, GermanyWon IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
20Win19–1 Aaron WilliamsUD89 May 2009 Jako Arena, Bamberg, Germany
19Win18–1 Micky SteedsKO5, 0:5128 Feb 2009 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany
18Win17–1 Michael Simms825 Oct 2008 Weser-Ems-Halle, Oldenburg, Germany
17Win16–1 Santiago De PaulaTKO5, 1:1430 Aug 2008 Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
16Win15–1 Stefan RaaffRTD3 7 Jun 2008 Karl-Eckel-Weg Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Germany
15Loss14–1 Wayne BraithwaiteTKO3, 1:5229 Mar 2008 Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, GermanyLost WBA Fedelatin and WBC Latino cruiserweight titles
14Win14–0 Mohamed AzzaouiKO3, 2:0829 Dec 2007 Seidensticker Halle, Bielefeld, GermanyRetained WBA Fedelatin cruiserweight title;
Won vacant WBC Latino cruiserweight title
13Win13–0 Ismail AbdoulUD827 Oct 2007 Messe, Erfurt, Germany
12Win12–0 Daniel BispoKO1, 1:0118 Aug 2007 Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, GermanyWon vacant WBA Fedelatin cruiserweight title
11Win11–0 Thomas HansvollKO1, 2:2223 Jun 2007 Stadthalle, Zwickau, Germany
10Win10–0 Héctor Alfredo ÁvilaUD814 Apr 2007 Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany
9Win9–0 Jason CurryKO1, 1:1216 Dec 2006 Bigbox Allgäu, Kempten, Germany
8Win8–0 Jean Claude BikoiUD823 Sep 2006 Rittal Arena, Wetzlar, Germany
7Win7–0 Carl GathrightKO1, 1:1813 May 2006 Stadthalle, Zwickau, Germany
6Win6–0 Ervin Slonka3, 1:308 Apr 2006 Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Germany
5Win5–0 Aleksejs KosobokovsUD64 Mar 2006 Large EWE Arena, Oldenburg, Germany
4Win4–0 Aleksejs Kosobokovs2, 2:5710 Dec 2005 Arena Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyKosobokovs disqualified for an intentional headbutt
3Win3–0 Mounir Chibi412 Nov 2005 Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
2Win2–0 Vladislav Druso1, 1:5310 Sep 2005 Sportcenter Jumps, Berlin, Germany
1Win1–0 David Vicena2, 2:593 Sep 2005 Internationales Congress Centrum, Berlin, GermanyProfessional debut

Outside of boxing

Hernández played the part of Joe Louis in the 2010 German film Max Schmeling.