Why is Nico Hernandez putting boxing career on hold for bare knuckle fight? ‘Why not?’
Nico Hernandez appreciates your concern and thanks you for thinking about him.
The first Wichita native to win an Olympic medal since 1984 has seen the doubt about his next career choice and heard the whispers. He expected this. After all, the 24-year-old deciding to put one of the most promising flyweight boxing careers on hold and put his reputation on the line in a bare knuckle fight is unprecedented in the boxing world.
Hernandez will fight Chancey Wilson, a mixed martial artist, in the main event of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 11 at INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the fights starting at 7 p.m. Tickets to the first event of its kind in state history, which also features Derby native and former Bellator veteran Dave “Caveman” Rickels, start at $40 and can be purchased at selectaseat.com.
So why is Hernandez, who sees himself as a future champion in boxing, risking so much to try out such a dangerous sport that he has no future in?
“Some people take pills or do drugs, but when I’m fighting, that’s my high,” Hernandez said. “I really believe this is what I was born to do. This is all I know. I don’t know why people are so worried about me. I’ve been trained to stand up and throw my hands since I was nine years old. They should be worried about the other guy.”
But even Hernandez admits there are risks. Bare knuckle boxing is brutal. Even for Hernandez, who is regarded as having a tough chin in boxing, one punch could be the end of the fight. While a loss wouldn’t count on his boxing record, Hernandez’s reputation could be sullied and his chances of moving up the ranks in the flyweight division could be put on hold.
This decision was not made lightly by Hernandez or his team, headed by his father and trainer, Lewis.
“Nico has a lot to gain, but a lot to lose as well in this fight,” Lewis Hernandez said. “It’s a very dangerous fight, basically a street fight but you get to hold. But Nico is just different. You’ve got to have something different in you to want to take this fight. A lot of people would never dare to take this kind of challenge.
“But Nico was made to set records, made to be special. There’s nobody in this whole world that has more heart than Nico. You’ve got to give that to the kid and that’s why I believe he is going to win.”
Hernandez, who holds a 7-0 professional boxing record, has not fought in a ring since February 15, 2019 after sustaining a wrist injury in a car wreck. But Hernandez says he has fully recovered from that injury and plans to return to boxing and “take over the division” by pursuing championship fights in the flyweight division following his bare knuckle fight.
“We’re calling out all of the top 112-pounders,” Lewis Hernandez said. “We’re putting everybody on notice at 112. If anybody wants to fight Nico, it’s on. We’re going after big titles after this.”
Before Hernandez can go title hunting in boxing, however, he has Saturday’s bare knuckle fight to get through.
Instead of eight, three-minute boxing rounds, Saturday’s bare knuckle fight will be five, two-minute rounds. That means Hernandez will have to go about his work at a much quicker pace than he’s accustomed to doing in a boxing ring. The father-son duo also tinkered with Nico’s punching technique, which will differ from how he throws punches in boxing.
The biggest concern entering the fight is the size disadvantage. Hernandez typically boxes at 112 pounds, but agreed to take the fight at 115 pounds, while Wilson typically fights MMA at 125 pounds and is cutting 10 pounds to make weight. Being an MMA fighter, Wilson will also have the edge in experience when it comes to the clench.
“I know it’s different from boxing, but at the end of the day it’s standing up and throwing hands and that’s what I’ve been trained to do my whole life,” Nico Hernandez said. “I know a lot of people are asking, ‘Why?’ but I say, ‘Why not?’ This is something I can check off my bucket list of things I’ve accomplished. I’m going to make history again being the first Olympic medalist to do this. And I’m going to bring the city out in the biggest arena in Wichita. I’ve been wanting to fight there for a while now.”
Hernandez knows he is risking a lot by accepting the fight and Wilson is an underdog with nothing to lose and everything to gain by potentially beating an Olympic medalist.
But the North High graduate has never been one to back down from a challenge. That’s what makes him special and the reason why he won six national championships as a boxing amateur and captured a bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics.
“I know everybody wants to look at what could go wrong, but I like to think about what could go right,” Hernandez said. “At the end of the day, this is my decision and I know my family is going to support whatever I want to do.”
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