Mauricio Herrera: “I guess the judges don’t score body shots, but we were taking Benavidez to school”

(Transcribed by Michael Readman) One of the biggest issues that has plagued the sport of boxing has been bad judging. Mauricio Herrera, one of the top junior welterweights in the world, has found himself on the wrong end of bad scorecards on a few occasions now and it has stopped him from reaching higher peaks in his career.

In part one of my “On The Ropes” interview with Mauricio Herrera, I talk to him about his most recent bout with Jose Benavidez. Herrera spoke about losing a decision which in the eyes of many was seen as a robbery. Mauricio also talked about his strategy in the fight and how he felt in the late rounds of the fight. Lastly, Mauricio Herrera gave his thoughts on a potential rematch and if he feels Benavidez’s camp will grant him one. Here is what Mauricio Herrera had to say.

Jenna J: You faced Jose Benavidez over the weekend and it appeared to everybody that you easily won but they gave Benavidez the decision. What are your thoughts now after the fight weekend?

Mauricio Herrera: Hearing the scorecards, I had a gut feeling they were gonna give it to him. As they were reading the scores something inside of me just said that they were gonna steal it from me. I went numb and felt shocked about it. I won’t say shocked but surprised when I heard the scorecards.

Something in my heart knew that they were gonna steal it from me and I kind of just stayed there posing, just waiting for it and then when they finally called his name it just made me more sad. I should have been angry, but it’s happened to me so many times in my career. It just made me sad more than anything when they called his name.

Jenna J: It was a unanimous decision and one scorecard was as bad as 117-111, you would think that any robbery or any close fight would at least be a majority or split decision. Did the wide scores surprise you?

Mauricio Herrera: Oh yeah, but even just hearing the scores as they were being read, I had a gut feeling that they were just gonna totally rob me right there while they were announcing the scores. Something told me they were gonna all rob me and give it to him and it happened, just like that. There was nothing I could do or say. Like I said, I was more sad than anything.

Jenna J: You had a clear experience advantage over him and you were dictating the fight, you were bringing the fight to him. How did you feel in those early rounds?

Mauricio Herrera: I felt good, I was doing my thing, giving him my jab. He’s a tall fighter so we had to break him down, so I threw a hard body attack on him, I had to wear him down. I guess the judges don’t score body shots but we thought we were the aggressor, we were doing good, body shots, taking him to school, everything we trained.

I gave him maybe three rounds, three or four rounds just on flashes maybe trying to steal the round. I did most of the work and he was trying to steal rounds with the combinations which I didn’t think was enough. That’s how the fight went. I went and did my thing, I was the aggressor and I put all the body punches together, winning the rounds, round by round and I don’t know what they saw.

Jenna J: The only success that people saw with Benavidez was in the middle rounds where he had a couple of rounds in a row where he was just a little bit more active. What happened particularly in those rounds?

Mauricio Herrera: I was trying to get him to come to me, get him on the ropes and try to exchange with him there. There were some of the later rounds where I was trying to make him the aggressor and make him uncomfortable, just trying to switch things up, different pace, and different things. But then I thought, I can wheel him in but he didn’t wanna come in and do anything so felt I still had to be the aggressor, so I still had make the fight.

After that, I just adjusted and kept going forward and did what I was doing earlier, just being aggressive, then I was thinking to myself, I guess I’ll just win it being aggressive and so I just changed it up and took it to him.

Jenna J: Did you feel you were in control of the fight in the late rounds, and did you feel you had the fight at that point?

Mauricio Herrera: Yeah, I felt good, I felt I’d already put a lot of rounds in. I was winning most of the rounds and I just thought we fought like a champion. I was aggressive, I made the fight, attacked the body, went after him, was not letting him try and steal rounds — which he was trying to do. I was always on him when he wanted to fight. It felt good right until the very end.

Jenna J: After the scorecards were read, you said you felt more sad than anything. What did the Benavidez camp say to you?

Mauricio Herrera: Benavidez’s dad came over to the dressing room while we were getting ready and was talking to my manager and brother and my dad while out there and said, these were his exact words, “Honestly, when we heard the scorecards, we thought they were gonna give it to Mauricio. He’s more experienced, he did more, but they didn’t, they called my sons name and of course I’m gonna be happy. I’m not the judges, we’re not the judges, we’re happy my son won, but honestly I thought the scores were all for Herrera. But hey, they gave it to us, why not be happy, we’re not the judges.” That was exactly what he said.

Jenna J: Did they say anything about wanting to give you a rematch being the fact that they felt it should have gone your way?

Mauricio Herrera: Yeah, he said he was open for a rematch, we gave him the opportunity and they said the same, we’ll give you a rematch. Who knows if he’s saying that now and things will change later but a rematch don’t stop how they did it. Who knows, he may be saying that now and then later change his mind.

CHECK BACK FOR PART 2 IN WHICH MAURICIO HERRERA SPEAKS ON HIS FUTURE AND GIVES HIS THOUGHTS ON MAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO.