Nico Hernández (born January 4, 1996) is an American boxer, from Wichita, Kansas. He is an Olympic medalist and pro boxer, noted for unusually fast and aggressive boxing.
He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he won an Olympic bronze medal for the United States, in the Men's light flyweight division—the United States' first Olympic men's boxing medal since the 2008 Beijing Olympics—capping a 94-5 amateur career (94 wins, 5 losses) with, over six years, six national titles.
Hernandez began his professional boxing career in 2017, starting with back-to-back knockouts in nationally televised bouts.
Early athletic experiences
Hernandez's career was chiefly built on his relationship with two colleagues: his father, and his best friend. He was first introduced to boxing at age 9, by his father, Lewis, a truck driver in Wichita, Kansas, who later became Hernandez's coach. The boy took a liking to boxing with his first encounter, then became an energetic young fighter, winning his first 25 fights, and aggressively reaching for tougher, even older and bigger, opponents.
Along with best friend Tony Losey,, a troubled teen also coached (and rehabilitated) by Lewis—the two boys developed into competitive boxers, with aspirations of winning 2016 Olympic gold medals together (Losey rising to USA Boxing's 3rd-place ranking among welterweights, and younger Hernandez winning gold at the National Junior Olympics in 2011 and 2012). They remained intensely involved with boxing, together, supporting each other's careers, until 2014, when Losey died in an industrial accident.
At Wichita North High School, Hernandez also excelled in wrestling, eagerly taking on better and bigger opponents with a ferocity and endurance that shocked them, and his coach.
Young Hernandez' amateur boxing career—with only 4 losses in over 90 fights—included, by age 21, eight wins in the Ringside World Championship (an annual Kansas City-area event billed as "the largest amateur boxing tournament in the world"), along with six consecutive Silver Gloves National Championship wins, and a 2014 National Golden Gloves gold medal.
2016 Olympic qualifications
Hernandez entered Boxing Qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Despite two failed attempts to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team, he persisted, qualifying in March of 2016. At the 2016 American Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he won the silver medal in the men's flyweight. He defeated Argentina's Leandro Blanc in the semifinals to secure his place in the Olympic competition and advanced to the final to face Yuberjen Martinez of Colombia.
2016 Rio Olympics
Entering Boxing at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 20-year-old Hernandez—a virtual unknown in boxing—weighed in at 108 pounds, entering the Men's light flyweight division. Not expected to win, his unexpected Olympic victories created a stir in the boxing community. His USA Olympic boxing coach was Billy Walsh (though his lifelong boxing coach had been his own father, Lewis Hernandez). Ironically, Walsh had previously coached Brendan Irvine, an Irish boxer who, the year before, had defeated Hernandez in the starting round of a world championship fight in Qatar.
For the first time since 1980, protective headgear would not be worn by Olympic boxers during their matches. This would become a problem for Hernandez in his final fight.
First fight
Though not expected to beat Manuel Cappai of Italy, and starting off slowly in the first round—losing on two judges' scorecards—Hernandez found his strength in the second and third round, overwhelming Cappai, and winning.
Second fight
In his second fight, low-seeded Hernandez faced Russia's Vasili Egorov, second-seeded, and silver medalist of the last world championship—the defending European champion. Though again starting off slowly, Hernandez surprised his opponent, in the second and third rounds, with fast aggression, moving in close and overpowering Egorov and winning a surprise upset by unanimous decision of the judges.
Third fight
In his third fight, this one for the Olympic bronze medal, Hernandez faced Carlos Quipo Pilataxi of Ecuador. Again starting slowly, he came from behind to win, again—ensuring himself an Olympic medal, and startling the boxing world—becoming the first American male boxer to win an Olympic medal since heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder's 2008 bronze medal win—and the first light flyweight American male boxer to win an Olympic medal since Michael Carbajal (a future International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee) won a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.