Lewis Will Return to Ring Tonight Against Hernandez

IRVINE — Mira Loma junior welterweight Mark Lewis, who has not fought a California State Athletic Commission-sanctioned bout since he upset Carlos “Bolillo” Gonzalez in October, returns to the ring tonight at the Irvine Marriott against journeyman Raul Hernandez of Mexico City.

The main event, scheduled for 10 rounds, almost didn’t come off, as Lewis’ handlers turned down several opponents offered by Marriott matchmaker Jerry Bilderrain. Hernandez (18-26-2, 12 knockouts) was agreed upon by Lewis’ management team early this week.

Lewis (15-2, 12 knockouts) lost a 10-round decision to Jaime Ocegueda Sept. 26, 1996 at the Marriott, but a month later upset Gonzalez in a five-round technical decision at the Forum. In January, Lewis scored a fourth-round knockout of Joel Garcia, who handed Lewis his first professional loss, in Santa Ynez, but that bout was not sanctioned by the state athletic commission and did not count on his official record.

David Arroyo, publicity director for Lewis’ management company, Ringside Tickets, said Lewis has been inactive because of a hand injury suffered in training. Arroyo also said Lewis has had problems getting quality opponents since Lewis upset Gonzalez, then the World Boxing Organization’s No. 1 contender.

“The victory over Bolillo moved Mark up into another class of fighters, and these fighters want a lot of money to fight Mark,” Arroyo said. “At such short notice, Raul was the only one available for us.”

Gonzalez has been in the ring with world-ranked fighters David Kamau, Gabriel Ruelas and Shane Mosley, but lost all those fights. Arroyo said Lewis, 27, is only two or three fights from a world title fight, providing Lewis keeps winning. Lewis is ranked 10th by the WBO and eighth by KO Magazine among junior welterweights.

“He can beat anybody if he’s there mentally,” Arroyo said. “When he’s not, he can make a bad fighter look good and that’s what happened against Ocegueda.”

In the semi-main event, super flyweight Carlos Hernandez (9-2, four knockouts) of Coachella Valley will fight Fernando Valencia (3-3, three knockouts) of Los Angeles.

The undercard, which begins at 7:30 p.m., features promising Long Beach welterweight Raul Franco (4-0, two knockouts) against Simon Stuhr (1-0) of Germany and heavyweight James Shipp of Santa Ana against Juan Pablo Rodriguez (1-0) of National City. Shipp is a former gang member who will making his professional debut at 28.