Aurelio Herrera (June 14, 1876 – April 12, 1927) was an American professional boxer in the featherweight and lightweight divisions.

Aurelio Herrera is the first famous boxer of Latin American origin. He was known for his aggressive fighting style and strong punch. Two-thirds of his fights were won by knockout. For this reason he was known by his two monikers, the Mexican Skullcrusher and the Mexican Wildcat

He was born in San José to Mexican immigrants. He later moved to Bakersfield with his parents and siblings as a child where he worked harvesting grapes.

Boxing career After his pro debut in 1895, Herrera amassed a record of 32–0–2 (32KO) and two newspaper decision victories before getting a chance for a world title. On May 29, 1901, in San Francisco, he challenged reigning featherweight champion Terry McGovern. Reports on the fight by The Evening Tribune stated that, "The fight had not progressed one minute of the first round before it became evident to all that McGovern was not making an effort to end the contest, but was content with buffeting Herrera about the ring at his pleasure." By the fifth round, McGovern had thoroughly beaten the challenger to the point that Herrera would not rise from the knockdowns anymore. This defeat was the first defeat of Herrera's professional career. He went on one more significant winning streak before losing to other top contenders. On October 15, 1902, he lost to future featherweight champion Abe Attell in a 15-round decision to decide a contender for the vacant featherweight title. Attell skillfully avoided Herrera's strong blows and went on to win the vacant title the following year. In 1903, Herrera scored notable knockouts against Kid Broad and Eddie Santry. In March 1904, he again lost to Attell on points. On September 5 of the same year in Butte, Montana, he lost a hard-fought 20-round decision against Battling Nelson.

On January 12, 1906, in Los Angeles, Herrera's most notable victory came when he knocked out former featherweight world champion Young Corbett II in the fifth round. He fought a few more fights afterward and ended his career in 1909. Although he made a lot of money as a prizefighter, he squandered his fortune and in 1927 was sentenced to 10 days in jail for vagrancy. He died two months later, two days after the death of Corbett.

Herrera fought a career total of 102 fights, of which he won 68, lost 12, drew 14 and had 2 no contests. In newspaper decisions he held a record of 2–2–1.

Fights against Hall of Famers Despite not making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame himself, Herrera had a total of 6 fights and a record of 1–4–1 (1KO) versus HOF's having lost to Abe Attell (twice), Battling Nelson, and Terry McGovern. He drew against Harry Lewis and defeated Young Corbett II.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted to the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes102Loss68–12–15 Dick HylandKO6 (10)Sep 23, 1909 101Loss68–11–15 Willie FitzgeraldPTS12May 12, 1908 100Win68–10–15 Kid GoodmanPTS15Sep 18, 1906 99Loss67–10–15 Charles NearyTKO7 (10)Aug 17, 1906 98Draw67–9–15 Kid HermanPTS20Feb 9, 1906 97Win67–9–14 Young Corbett IIKO5 (20)Jan 12, 1906 96Draw66–9–14 Eddie HanlonPTS20Nov 10, 1905 95Draw66–9–13 Kid WintersPTS15Jul 24, 1905 9466–9–12 Charles NearyNC1 (10)Jul 4, 1905 93Draw66–9–12 Charles NearyPTS10Jun 8, 1905 92Win66–9–11 Kid GoodmanPTS15May 17, 1905 91Draw65–9–11 Harry LewisNWS6May 6, 1905 90Win65–9–11 Tommy DalyPTS15Apr 21, 1905 89Loss64–9–11 Young ErneNWS6Apr 15, 1905 88Draw64–9–11 Tommy DalyPTS10Mar 16, 1905 87Draw64–9–10 Maurice SayersPTS6Jan 20, 1905 86Draw64–9–9 Maurice SayersPTS6Dec 23, 1904 8564–9–8 Young HermanND4Oct 26, 1904 84Win64–9–8 Kid TracyKO5 (10)Oct 7, 1904 83Loss63–9–8 Battling NelsonPTS20Sep 5, 1904 82Win63–8–8 Benny YangerKO8 (10)Jun 13, 1904 81Win62–8–8 Kid GoodmanPTS20May 17, 1904 80Win61–8–8 Louie LongPTS20May 11, 1904 79Loss60–8–8 Kid GoodmanNWS20Apr 21, 1904 78Win60–8–8 Kid FarmerKO1 (10)Apr 14, 1904 77Loss59–8–8 Abe AttellPTS6Mar 28, 1904 76Win59–7–8 Barney AbelKO3 (10)Mar 25, 1904 75Draw58–7–8 Benny YangerPTS6Mar 14, 1904 74Loss58–7–7 Louie LongTKO4 (20)Feb 12, 1904 73Draw58–6–7 Charles NearyPTS6Jan 22, 1904 72Draw58–6–6 Charles NearyPTS6Jan 8, 1904 71Loss58–6–5 Jack CordellPTS15Nov 17, 1903 70Win58–5–5 Eddie SantryKO13 (20)Oct 29, 1903 69Draw57–5–5 Louie LongPTS20Oct 15, 1903 68Win57–5–4 Jack DowneyKO1 (10)Jul 2, 1903 67Win56–5–4 Kid BroadKO4 (10)Jun 13, 1903 66Win55–5–4 Jack RichardsKO4 (10)May 16, 1903 65Win54–5–4 Cyclone JacksonKO2 (10)May 13, 1903 64Win53–5–4 Kid FredericksKO3 (20)May 8, 1903 63Win52–5–4 Jack RichardsKO4 (20)Apr 16, 1903 62Win51–5–4 Cyclone JohnsonKO1 (?)Apr 14, 1903 61Win50–5–4 Jack CliffordKO9 (10)Mar 16, 1903 60Win49–5–4 Tommy JacobsKO3 (20)Feb 23, 1903 59Win48–5–4 Jack MaddenTKO14 (15)Feb 19, 1903 58Win47–5–4 Wisconsin KidKO2 (10)Feb 16, 1903 57Win46–5–4 Jack KingsleyKO4 (10)Feb 13, 1903 56Win45–5–4 Kid OglesbyRTD10 (20)Feb 5, 1903 55Win44–5–4 George BakerPTS20Dec 17, 1902 54Win43–5–4 Caesar AttellKO2 (?)Nov 21, 1902 53Win42–5–4 Tommy HermanKO12 (12)Nov 15, 1902 52Win41–5–4 Caesar AttellKO3 (10)Nov 2, 1902 51Loss40–5–4 Abe AttellPTS15Oct 15, 1902 50Win40–4–4 Mike DuffyKO8 (10)Oct 3, 1902 49Win39–4–4 Young DempseyKO5 (10)Sep 19, 1902 48Win38–4–4 Jack LoweryKO7 (10)Aug 7, 1902 47Win37–4–4 Kid JohnsonKO4 (10)May 10, 1902 46Draw36–4–4 Tim HegartyPTS20Mar 18, 1902 45Win36–4–3 Kid ChambersKO3 (10)Mar 3, 1902 44Win35–4–3 Billy WilsonKO5 (10)Feb 10, 1902 43Loss34–4–3 Tim HegartyPTS20Jan 27, 1902 42Win34–3–3 George BakerPTS10Dec 17, 1901 41Win33–3–3 Tommy MowattKO3 (10)Sep 25, 1901 40Draw32–3–3 Tim HegartyPTS20Sep 5, 1901 39Loss32–3–2 Billy DeCourseyPTS20Sep 3, 1901 38Loss32–2–2 Tim HegartyPTS20Jul 15, 1901 37Loss32–1–2 Terry McGovernKO5 (20)May 29, 1901 36Win32–0–2 Toby IrwinKO8 (20)Apr 19, 1901 35Win31–0–2 Tommy CoxKO8 (10)Dec 8, 1900 34Draw30–0–2 Bob ThompsonPTS10Dec 3, 1900 33Win30–0–1 Harry JonesKO3 (10)Nov 21, 1900 32Win29–0–1 Harry JonesKO10 (?)Sep 22, 1900 31Win28–0–1 Gypsy KidKO7 (10)Aug 20, 1900 30Win27–0–1 Australian Jim RyanKO3 (10)Jun 12, 1900 29Win26–0–1 Crocky BoyleKO10 (10)Mar 14, 1900 28Win25–0–1 Watermelon KidKO2 (10)Feb 26, 1900 27Draw24–0–1 Tom SullivanPTS6Feb 11, 1900 26Win24–0 Joe Spider WelshKO7 (?)Feb 2, 1900 25Win23–0 Charley TodKO7 (10)Jan 15, 1900 24Win22–0 Kid ChambersKO3 (10)Dec 27, 1899 23Win21–0 Elmer ReaderKO3 (10)Nov 3, 1899 22Win20–0 Pat DalyKO14 (15)Oct 12, 1899 21Win19–0 Kid RempheryKO4 (10)Sep 12, 1899 20Win18–0 Billy DeCourseyTKO15 (20)Aug 21, 1899 19Win17–0 Pat DalyKO7 (10)Aug 10, 1899 18Win16–0 Jim BarryKO6 (?)Jun 12, 1899 17Win15–0 Biddy BishopKO3 (20)May 29, 1899 16Win14–0 Mike ThorntonKO6 (10)Feb 22, 1899 15Win13–0 Joe Spider WelshKO9 (10)Jan 17, 1899 14Win12–0 Jack HustonKO7 (10)Nov 25, 1898 13Win11–0 Jack NormanKO6 (6)Aug 12, 1898 12Win10–0 Dave HatchKO7 (?)Aug 7, 1898 11Win9–0 Jack McCormickKO4 (6)Jun 7, 1898 10Win8–0 Gypsy KidKO3 (?)Jan 14, 1898 9Win7–0 WilsonKO3 (?)Nov 25, 1897 8Win6–0 Fresno KidKO1 (?)Nov 2, 1897 7Win5–0 Charlie FookKO15 (?)Aug 23, 1897 6Win4–0 Pat DalyKO3 (?)Jun 19, 1897 5Win3–0 Mike ThorntonNWS6Oct 30, 1896 4Win3–0 Joe WelchRTD9 (15)Aug 14, 1896 3Win2–0 Joe WelchNWS4Jul 24, 1896 2Win2–0 Charles ToddKO3 (?)Oct 14, 1895 1Win1–0 Woo SingKO? (20)Aug 25, 1893

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions to the win/loss/draw column.