Herrera stuns Provodnikov on FNF season debut

Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera shocked unbeaten Russian junior welterweight prospect Ruslan Provodnikov on the season debut of Friday Night Fights on ESPN 2, earning a unanimous decision despite an ugly swelling obscuring his left eye for much of the fight.

Provodnikov (17–1, 11 KOs) caught Herrera (16–1, 7 KOs) with a heavy blow in the third round to close his eye but failed to maintain his defense, allowing Herrera to increasingly pepper him with combinations as the fight neared the championship rounds.

There are some questions about the scorecards (115–113 and 116–112 twice), which is why Stiff Jab will bring you a round-by-round breakdown with scoring this weekend after further review of the fight.

In the other televised bout 2008 Olympian Demetrius Andrade failed to impress while earning an eight-round decision over Mauricio’s brother Albert. The 22-year junior middleweight prospect from Rhode Island showed off good handspeed and athleticism but lacked a focused approach in the ring.

Analyst Teddy Atlast (who scored the main event for Provodnikov) implied Andrade’s technical deficiencies are a result of his father’s training. Whether or not that is true is beyond our knowledge, but one thing we know is Andrade has much more in him than he showed in Las Vegas on Friday night.