Melissa Hernández

On November 4, 2006 at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Melissa (119 lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (96-94, 96-94, 98-92) decision over Lisa Brown (121 lbs) of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada to win the WIBA Super Bantamweight World Title. Lisa fell to 12-3-3 (4 KOs) with the loss, while Hernández improved to 6-0-1 (2 KO's).

On January 21, 2006 at the White Rock Boxing Gym in Columbia, South Carolina, Melissa stopped Jennifer Johnson of Camden, South Carolina at 0:17 in the first round, dropping Johnson to 0-2.

On April 29, 2006 at the Silver Reef Casino in Ferndale, Washington, Melissa scored a four round unanimous (40-36 x 3) decision over 19-year-old pro debuter Merced Nunez of Philomoth, Oregon. The difference in this bout was experience. Hernández, though she only has two professional fights, had sixteen amateur bouts. Nunez had only two amateur bouts. Nonetheless, the fight was action packed. Though Nunez stood taller, she had some trouble making contact with the elusive Hernández.

On June 30, 2006 at Club Europe in Atlanta, Georgia, Melissa won a six-round unanimous (60-54 x 3) decision over Leora Jackson of Springdale, Arkansas who fell to 2-8. On August 31, 2006 at Harvey's Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada, Melissa TKO'd pro debuter Stacey Rogers of New London, Ohio at 0:42 in the third round of a scheduled four rounder.

Melissa made her pro boxing debut at the Hilton in New York City on October 26, 2005, notching a four-round majority decision over previously unbeaten Mao Mao Zhang of China, also a former amateur champion. Hernández dictated the pace of the fight with her jab. She executed her game plan well by using excellent footwork, head and body movement, as well as feinting, but she did manage to walk into the line of fire a few times and was hit with a couple of solid left hooks as she tried to get inside. Overall, her boxing skills were too much for Zhang, whose pro record fell to 1-1 with the loss.

At the 2004 National PAL Boxing Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Melissa won the 132-lb division. She also won the 2005 Golden Gloves. She then went on to win the 2005 Florida PAL Championship over Lena Taylor.

By the time the 2003 New York Golden Gloves came around, Melissa had reduced her weight to 145 pounds (66 kg, 10 stone 5 lbs), and she signed up to fight at 138 pounds (63 kg, 9 stone 12 lbs). In her first amateur fight, she faced Golden Glove champion Jill Emery and lost.

She then met former world champion Ada Vélez, who invited Belinda Laracuente to watch Melissa fight at the 2003 Women's U.S. Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Not long after that, Velez and Laracuente moved Melissa from New York City to Florida to train with them. She says of that time:

Melissa Hernández Pacheco (born 4 February 1980) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. She held the WBC female featherweight title from 2012 to 2013 and challenged once for the WBC female lightweight title in 2011.

On June 15, 2006 at the Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino in Canyonville, Oregon, Melissa faced veteran Kelsey Jeffries over 10 rounds for the IFBA Featherweight title, fighting her to a split draw (95-93 Jeffries, 96-94 Hernández, 95-95). Jeffries was now 33-9-1 (2 KO's) while Hernández was just 3-0-1 (1 KO) as a pro. This was an impressive step-up in competition for Hernández.