R.I.P. Genaro Hernandez

It is an unfortunate truth that, for as much as we appreciate our prizefighters while they are in the ring, such appreciation tends to fade in the years that follow, returning only once they are truly and permanently gone.

Genaro Hernandez passed away this week at 45 after an extended battle with cancer, a battle which he fought as valiantly as he did while between those ropes. So many have noted their affection toward him and their appreciation of him—Hernandez the fighter, the commentator, the man—during that battle. And it is in tribute to who and what he was that their affection and appreciation has been written so that those who did not know Genaro Hernandez can, at the very least, know why he was appreciated.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports spoke to promoter Bob Arum, who said:

“He was everything you could have wished for in a boxer and an athlete, but he was a wonderful person. He trained hard, he didn’t engage in trash talk. He had respect for his opponents and the sport. He was a great warrior. The way he handled this cancer was amazing. He never gave up and fought as hard as he could, and he handled it with so much class. He was as good as they get. As a fighter, as a commentator and as a man, he was always the perfect gentleman.”

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com spoke with Hernandez's broadcast partner, Rich Marotta:

"I had the good fortune to call many of Genaro's fights, from early in his career when he was appearing in prelims at the Irvine Ballroom to his days as a world champion at the Forum to his biggest fight against Oscar De La Hoya at Caesars," Marotta said. "He was the same guy through all of that, friendly, accessible to all and simply one of the finest athletes I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. He was still the same guy, with the same accommodating demeanor, in the years following his boxing career as a ringside commentator."

Steve Kim of MaxBoxing.com:

"There was an everyman quality and a certain normalcy to Hernandez and in many ways, he was the embodiment of that. While he had a storied career and made some money, he still had to go out into the real world and make a living for his family as he retired, which was just fine by him. If that involved boxing, even better. What Rudy [Hernandez, Genaro's brother and his trainer] will remember most about his brother is, 'that he never thought he was better than anybody else and that his whole thing was if he could only be treated equally to a guy who was a four-round fighter, then he could be happy with that. It took him a long time to get used to the fact that people called him ’champ’.' "

CompuBox ended its tribute to Hernandez on BoxingScene.com with this fitting conclusion:

"From the time his struggle with cancer became known, he was the focus of countless prayers. But cancer doesn't care who it strikes or how much agony it inflicts. It places no merit on whether its victim has a loving family or a deep and diverse circle of friends. All it wants to do is conquer its host. Once it attacked Genaro Hernandez, however, it met a fierce, fiesty and unyielding foe that never shied away from a challenge. But in the end Hernandez's bravery and strength of character wasn't enough—and that's only because it couldn't have been enough.

"If there is one silver lining in this grim circumstance it is this: The boxing fraternity had ample opportunity to show Hernandez just how loved he was. They came in the form of countless e-mails, events to raise money for his treatment, private and public donations for said treatment as well as the Bill Crawford Award for 'perseverance in overcoming adversity' from the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2008.

"His 13-2 record in title fights spread over seven years and two reigns is one of which to be proud. Perhaps someday he will receive the ultimate honor—induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. But even if he doesn't achieve that status one thing is beyond argument: He was a Hall of Fame human being."