Two days after his 33rd birthday, Marco “El Muñeco” Delgado will fight for the 13th time in his boxing career.
The Turlock native is set to take on Yuba City’s Anthony “Pretty Boy” Hernandez in a super middleweight showdown Sept. 21 at The Venue at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and fighting begins at 7.
The two fighters fought to a draw on Nov. 11, 2023 — the last time Delgado stepped into the ring.
Delgado (7-5-1) said there’s no specific reason for the 10-month layoff.
“Nothing in particular,” said Delgado. “Just not able to get fights. A fight would fall through, or others wouldn’t want to fight me. Just the business part of it.”
Delgado started his career — coincidentally, on Nov. 11, 2016 — as a 25-year-old cruiserweight. He scored a TKO over Matt Yee at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento.
Eight years later, he’s still at it. And he believes he can still have an impact in the sport.
“I definitely think I can,” said Delgado. “A lot of fighters, especially in the lower weight classes, start fighting at a young age. I started later, and because of my weight it’s harder to get fights. Plus, I haven’t taken any serious beatings.”
While Delgado hasn’t suffered any serious beatings, there have been defeats. He started his career by posting five consecutive victories in a 24-month span before suffering his first professional setback, a split-decision loss to super middleweight Mike Guy at the Double Tree. “El Muñeco, which means “The Doll” in Spanish (that’s how he’s listed in the contacts of his mother’s cell phone), won twice more to run his record to 7-1 before a string of four consecutive losses leading up to the 2023 bout with Hernandez (7-3-1) at the Gold Country Casino in Oroville.
“Hernandez told my manager after the fight that he was happy with the draw,” said Delgado. “I’m kind of surprised that we got the rematch. I don’t think he wants to fight me. I’m just telling the truth.”
In their first go-round, judges Michael Margado and Kermit Bayless scored the fight 57-57, while judge Brian Tsukamoto had it 58-56 in favor of Hernandez.
“I know that he’s a tough, hard-working fighter,” said Delgado. “Just when I thought he’d be done throwing punches, he kept throwing punches. It was a tough fight the whole way.”
Hernandez, after getting off to a 1-2 start in his career, has won six of his last eight fights, losing a unanimous decision to Kenneth Lopez in May of 2023, and the draw with Delgado six months later.
The fighters do have one common opponent in Stockton’s Aaron Hamilton. Delgado defeated Hamilton by TKO six years ago, while Hernandez won by TKO four years ago, handing Hamilton his sixth loss in six pro fights and sending him into retirement.
