By Donald Duff
Former World Boxing Council (WBC) Cruiserweight champion Wayne `Big Truck’ on Saturday night survived a first round knockdown to score a technical knockout (TKO) over the previously unbeaten Yoan Pablo Hernandez in their cruiserweight fight at the Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Referee Jose Martinez stopped the bout at 1.52 seconds of the third round of the scheduled 12-rounder, a round in which the Cuban-born Hernandez went down on three occasions.
With the win, Braithwaite, who weighed in at 196 ¼ pounds, not only won the World Boxing Association (WBA) Cruiserweight Fedelatin and the World Boxing Council Cruiserweight titles but he also improved his record to 26 fights, 23 wins (19 kayoes) and three losses.
Southpaw, Hernandez, 23, who weighed in at 198 ½ pounds, is a former amateur world heavyweight champion and was 14-0 going into the fight.
He now has a record of 15 fights, 14 wins (eight by knockouts) with one loss also by knockout.
The win is set to make the 32-year-old Braithwaite a major player again in the Cruiserweight division as when he held the WBC title from October 2002 to April 2005.
Braithwaite was accompanied by trainer Dillon Carew.
The judges were Henk Meijers, Jan Christensen and Mayqueen Naque.
