Freddy Hernandez scored a fifth round stoppage over former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion DeMarcus Corleyat 1:48 of a scheduled ten round Welterweight bout at the Chumash Hotel and Resort in Santa Ynez, California.
The two combatants fought very hard over the first four rounds with each guy taking turns controlling the action. Hernandez had a decided size advantage and in round five landed a booming right that froze Corley before he plummeted to the canvas for which referee Pat Russell stopped the fight.
Hernandez, 148 lbs of Lynwood, CA is now 28-1-1 with nineteen knockouts. Corley, 143 lbs of Washington, DC is 36-13-1.
“My corner kept telling me to throw the right hand more and pick up the pace,’’ said Hernandez, who came out for the fifth with renewed intensity. “We’d seen tapes and saw where Corley slowed down a little after three or four rounds.
“His experience gave me lots of difficulties. That and the fact he was a southpaw and that we only had a week’s notice to prepare. I fought a southpaw before (Damian Frias on Oct. 23, 2009, on ShoBox) but I had a month to prepare for that. I cut in all my fights so I wasn’t concerned about them.
“This is definitely my biggest victory. To knock out an experienced former champion who never gets knocked out is great.’’
“I got caught, simple as that,’’ Corley said. “It happens to the best. Instead of me going bing, bing, bing (punches) and moving out of range, I went bing, bing, bing and stood up and got caught with a clean shot. Until then, I was frustrating him and fighting my fight.
“But I’m not going anywhere. As soon as I can return to the gym, I will. I’m definitely going to fight again.’’
Francisco Contreras scored an emphatic first round stoppage over Juan Castaneda in a scheduled eight round Jr. Welterweight bout.
Contreras jabbed early until he landed a big right hand that wobbled Castaneda before two more shots put Castaneda down for the ten count at 1:38 if round one.
Contreras, 136 1/2 lbs of Irvington, NJ is now 13-0 with twelve knockouts. Castaneda, 137 lbs of La Paz, Mexico is now 16-3-1.
“I am happy to get this win.’’ the 5-foot-10-inch, 25-year-old Contreras said. “All the shots I was hitting him with were solid. It’s too bad for him he couldn’t continue, but if he had gotten back up, I would have knocked him down again.’’
Castaneda said he felt he twisted his ankle just before he got hit and again after he hit the canvas. “This is really a tough way to lose. I hope he’ll give me a rematch,’’ the 5-foot-7, 26-year-old’ Castaneda said. He got me with a great shot and I wanted to get up and keep fighting. But I just couldn’t.’’
