After a four-round draw (tie) against Tomas Rivera in Ponce, Hernandez reeled off a streak of eleven wins in a row, three by knockout.
The streak came to an end when he traveled to Panama to fight world-ranked Gilberto Illueca, and dropped a ten-round unanimous decision.
Hernandez then started another streak of wins, this time reaching eight consecutive victories before facing another up-and-coming Puerto Rican bantamweight, Wilfredo Gómez.
After the defeat to Gomez, Hernandez won four bouts in a row, including a win over future title challenger Cleo Garcia of Nicaragua.
Hernandez kept fighting, having bouts in Yauco, Puerto Rico and in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Miami, Florida, Reno, Nevada, and Sacramento, California, where he suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Henry Rodriguez, on December 18, 1985, after which he retired.