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By: William Holmes
Showtime and Don King Promotions had to deal with several changes to the main event but were still able to broadcast a solid boxing card at the Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Omar Henry was scheduled to be in the main event, but a last minute emergency surgery canceled his fight on Showtime against Juan Ubaldo Cabrera.
The first fight of the night was between Joey Hernandez (23-1-1) and James Winchester (15-6) in the super welterweight division. Both fighters nearly exchanged blows during the weigh-ins the night before, but Hernandez easily defeated the overmatched Winchester when the fight meant something.
Winchester took the fight on short notice, but he had little to offer against the Hernandez in his home town. Hernandez was deducted a point in the third round punching Winchester while the referee was trying to break them apart. A combination by Hernandez knocked Winchester down in the fourth round and was able to keep Winchester at bay the rest of the fight. The final scores were 96-92, 97-91, and 97-91.
Afterwards Hernandez stated, “He was a little awkward. He led with his head a lot. I did what I had to do and now it’s on to bigger and better things.”
The main event was between Angelo Santana (14-0) and Juan Garcia (13-1) in the lightweight division. The fight was in jeopardy when Santana originally weighed in nearly two pounds over the lightweight limit the night before, but he was able to suck down to 135.2 lbs and Garcia agreed to continue with the fight.
Garcia held a reach and height advantage over Santana, but Santana’s southpaw style gave Garcia problems early on. A straight left hand resulted in a knockdown in the second round and a cut developed over the right eye of Garcia in the fourth.
Santana continued his assault on Garcia in the fifth round and obliterated Garcia with another straight left hand that knocked Garcia to the mat. When Garcia got back to his feet he was immediately met by Santana who unleashed a combination on him to knock him down for the third time. The referee immediately stopped the bout and gave Santana the TKO victory at 1:41 of the fifth round.
After the fight Santana said the following, “I was able to knock him out and that was my intention. He was a very strong opponent but I was able to stop him….” “This performance says it it all for me. This proves that I am ready.”
