Genaro Is the Top Hernandez

Genaro Hernandez and Carlos Hernandez have been sparring mates for years. But if they had sparred the way they fought Thursday night at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, neither might have survived long enough to get into an actual fight.

Arms locked, heads together, uppercuts firing from all angles, the two battled through the early rounds before Genaro used his superior boxing skills to win a unanimous 12-round decision, thus defending his World Boxing Council super-featherweight crown in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 3,865.

“He’s a buddy to me,” Genaro said, “but Carlos or no Carlos, tonight he was just an opponent.”

Genaro (37-1-1, 17 knockouts) earned $200,000 and Carlos (25-2-1, 15 knockouts) received $30,000 on a night when Carlos was shut out on one judge’s scorecard and was given only the third round on the other two scorecards.

As the fight wore on, Carlos, unable to break through and hurt Genaro, seemed to wear out.

“I got hit in the right eardrum late [in the fight],” Carlos said, “and had to keep my distance.”

In a preliminary fight, super featherweight Floyd Mayweather, the 20-year-old who won a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics, continued his campaign to get a title shot next year by winning a technical knockout over Angelo Nunez. Mayweather (12-0, 10 knockouts) was declared the winner when referee Lou Moret stopped the bout at 2:42 of the third round because of a deep cut around the right eye of Nunez (14-12-3).

In a battle for the vacant Woman’s International Boxing Federation super-lightweight title, Lucia Rijker, who lives in Los Angeles, improved to 9-0 by knocking out Germany’s Jeanette Witte (6-1-1) at 1:25 of the third round. It was Rijker’s eighth knockout.