Freddy Hernandez has been forced out of his scheduled July 1 Friday Night Fights main event against Top Rank's Mark Jason Melligen, and has been officially replaced by Argentina's Sebastian Lujan for the welterweight 10-rounder. A cut suffered in training has knocked Hernandez out of the fight.
Hernandez (29-2, 20 KO) is coming off of his November loss to Andre Berto in one of the lamer major title fights in recent memory, as Hernandez, 32, was nowhere near a true top contender for the belt that Berto held at the time. Berto stopped Hernandez in just 2:07 thanks to a rocket right hand that sent the Mexican fighter to the canvas. Hernandez got up, but was ruled in no shape to continue, and the mismatch played out even worse than most expected.
Lujan (37-5-2, 23 KO) is probably best known for having his ear nearly torn off (don't click if you're squeamish) by Antonio Margarito in 2005, and has lost most of his steps up in class to fighters like Sergiy Dzinziruk and Jamie Moore. But he's riding an 11-fight win streak right now, which included a win over Jose Luis Castillo in 2008 that led to one of Castillo's many abandoned retirements from the sport.
Frankly, it's probably a better fight, and much tougher for Melligen (21-2, 14 KO), the 25-year-old Filipino nicknamed "Mighty Mark." Melligen is a solid young fighter, but it's time for him to step up the competition, and Lujan is a good fight for this stage of his career.
The fight will take place at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio. Right now, the only other finalized fight for the card is Mickey Bey Jr (16-0-1, 8 KO) taking on Alejandro Rodriguez (12-3, 6 KO) in a 130/135 pound bout. Bey is coming off of a draw against Jose Hernandez in February.