Twinkle Fingers Hernandez stops Ashanti in First, Heavyweight Stiverne Squeaks out win

Miami, FL–World Renown Boxing Promoter Don King did it again with another great card of excellent competitive boxing in Miami at the Casino Miami Jai-Alai. This was the first card at the newly renovated Casino Jai-Alai much to the delight of a ravenous crowd who was left begging for more. With numerous accolades, awards, lifetime achievements in the sport of boxing, and accomplishments during his career, King is often referred to the greatest promoter of all time and rightfully so.

For the main event, WBC US Super welterweight Champion Joey “Twinkle Fingers” Hernandez 21-1-1(12KO) was very impressive with a first round TKO win over tough veteran Shakir Ashanti 16-13. Ashanti, who I must note had a crazy outfit of what appeared to be skirt and pom poms attached to his legs, met Twinkle Fingers with a couple fast early punches and the two tied up in the middle of the ring. While tied up Hernandez did what all fighters should do and instead of waiting for the referee to break the action he kept punching with the free hand landing some hard punches that eventually floored the Ashanti. Ashanti was able to beat the count however it was Hernandez who then rushed across the ring and landed a number of clean unanswered shots during a fight ending flurry that ended the junior middleweight fight at 2:45 of just the first round. After the fight Hernandez was quick to grab the microphone from ring announcer Marc Lictenfield to call out Jr Middleweight contender and former 5 time world champion Cory Spinks for a fight. Spinks was not slow to climb into the ring and return fire on the microphone by telling Hernandez to “bring it on” and ”Imma stop this fool right here” which was not very well accepted by Hernandez’s hometown crowd in Miami. Spinks is looking to avenge a 2010 knockout loss to Cornelius Bundrage 31-4(18KO) on June 23rd at the Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida. The fight will be for the IBF title. Hernandez said after the fight, “I’m a bad dude when I want to be. I wiped out Shakir Ashanti like a plate of dishes in the first round—and he went 10 rounds with Cory Spinks!

The WBC #1 ranked heavyweight Bermane “B-Ware” Stiverne 22-1-1, (20 KOs) squeaked out a unanimous decision win over journeyman Willie Herring 13-11-3(4KO) from Orlando. Stiverne, a native of Haiti who grew up in Miami, controlled much of the first part of the fight with hard combinations and pressed the very tough and brave Herring. Herring had no problem standing in the pocket with the bigger Stiverne exchanging punching but was not a fan Stiverne mid-fight jaw jacking taunts and told him to “Shut up and fight”. Herring landed some nice shots at the end of round four that led to a very entertaining round 5 which it seemed the tide seemed to be turning and Herring appeared to be putting together a nice late fight rally. Stiverne hung on to take the decision however it was Herrings toughness that won the fans appreciation as was well noted after the fight. Stiverne mentioned after the fight he had injured his right hand, his money hand and he calls it, early in round two. The cards read, 79-73 twice and 77-75 on the final card, and was the same score I had. Stiverne said after the fight, “Willie Herring gave me just what I needed tonight, a chance to show all the things we’ve been working on in the gym like head movement, establishing my jab, body shots and throwing punches in bunches.” “I came to fight and so did Herring. I threw a lot of leather and he got most of it. “I took this fight and short notice but it was good to get some rust worked out. Herring is lighter and moves well so it wasn’t easy for me to land everything I threw, but he knew when I did. “It was great to be fighting where I grew up in Miami in front of friends and family.”

Former amateur standout and 2008 Haitian Olympian Azea “Haitian Hitman” Augustama 13-1(8KO) let his star shine bright with a win over Grover “The Cobra” Young, 6-7-1(3KO). The sharp Augustama often connected with blistering fast right hand left hook combos to the hard charging southpaw who himself found success early on with a couple straight left hands as well. A bizarre moment happened in the second round when Augustama landed a straight right hand and Young backed up holding his head as if he got head butted. The referee noted it as a clean punch and did not step in, so Augustama jumped on Young with a flurry of punches that prompted him to take a knee to recover still holding his head. I spoke to Augustama after the fight and he stated it was a clean punch. The end came at 55 seconds of the second round.

Marcus “Happy” Oliveira 23-1-1(23KO) was just that …’happy’ after a fast 1 punch knockout over Adam “Atom Bomb” Collins from Portsmouth, OH. The end came quickly at just :49 seconds of the first round when Oliveira landed a crushing left hook to the body which sent Collins to the canvas and unwilling to continue…………. After the fight Oliveira said ““I predicted I would win the fight with a body shot and I did. My body shot dropped him for good. The last time I saw a body shot like that was Tito Trinidad vs. Rafael Pineda. I’m a big Tito fan, so I have always wanted to land a body shot like that. “When I hit him in the face he covered up his head, so I took it to his body. “I’m ready to fight for a world championship this year. I’d fight Nathan Cleverly tomorrow.”

Tough Jr Welterweight prospect Amir Imam 4-0(3KO) from Albany, NY, now fighting out of Pompano Beach Florida, looked sharp with a convincing TKO win over rough and ready but awkward John “Big Money” Willoughby 3-12(2KO) from Selma AL. Imam landed a great straight right hand early in round one that put Willoughby against the ropes and set the tone for the rest of the fight which was of a pitbull versus a feline. Imam knocked Willoughby down twice in the first round once with a beautiful right hand and a second by way of a short left hook inside. The end came at 1:15 of the second round after a crushing right hand at which time referee Sam Burgos.

Undefeated Heavyweight prospect Trevor “The American Dream” Bryan 3-0(2KO) from Albany, NY, now fighting out of Pompano Beach Florida, kept his perfect record in tact with a hard fought unanimous decision win over young challenger Brandon Spencer, 1-3 (1KO) from Augusta GA. It took Bryan a couple rounds to get acclimated to his 283 pound southpaw counterpart’s style, but started to find a home for his double left hook and right hand combination that later proved to be the big difference in the fight. A game Spencer landed hard straight left hands and occasional desperate flurries, but was slowed by body shots of Bryan, and poor conditioning. All three cards read 40-36.

Boxing notables in the crowd included Francisco Palacios, Cory Spinks, Chad Dawson, Patricia Alcivar, and Guillermo Jones.