-- Castaneda is counted out --
The three judges had the Hernandez-Corley scheduled
10-round welterweight scrap scored 38-apiece entering the
fifth round.
A former World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welter
belt-holder, Corley vowed going in to take the fight to
Hernandez and he did. He cut the No. 14-ranked contender in
the World Boxing Council (WBC) around both eyes and his
experience created a lot of problems for the native of
Mexico City.
But no matter how slick, smart and slippery Corley was at
times, he had no answer for the booming right hand that
dropped him flat on his back. The victory was the fifth in
a row for the 5-foot-10-inch, 30-year-old Hernandez, who is
11-0 with one No Contest dating to February 2005.
"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."
For the 5-foot-7, 35-year-old Corley, a longtime
world-class 140-pound southpaw who has fought many past
and current world champions, including Floyd Mayweather,
Miguel Cotto, Devon Alexander, Junior Witter, Zab Judah,
Randall Bailey and Jose Alfaro, it
was only the third time he’s been stopped in a near-14-year
career.
"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."
The first round between Contreras and Castaneda was shaping
up as an excellent one until Contreras connected cleanly
with a right hand, two lefts and another right coming off
the ropes. Castaneda suffered a severely twisted left ankle
after getting nailed and going down, and was counted out.
"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."
A doubleheader promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC,
will re-air this week as follows:
DAY
CHANNEL
Tuesday, Feb.
9, at 10 p.m. ET/PT SHO 2
Friday’s fights will be available ON DEMAND beginning on
Monday, Feb. 8.
Nick Charles
called the action from ringside with Steve Farhood and
Antonio Tarver serving as expert analysts. The executive
producer of ShoBox is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan
producing and Rick
Phillips directing.
SHOWTIME Sports Boxing Schedule: Today/Saturday, Feb. 6, is
“Super Sabado’’ on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING when
two-time
world champion Edwin Valero (26-0, 26 KOs) defends his
World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown against WBC
135-pound interim titleholder Antonio DeMarco (23-1-1, 17
KOs) in Monterrey, Mexico, live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT,
delayed on the West Coast).
In the
co-feature at Arena Monterrey, unbeaten, world-ranked Luis
Carlos Abregu (28-0, 23
KOs)
will be opposed by Richard Gutierrez in a 10-round
welterweight bout.
The Super Six
World Boxing Classic resumes on Saturday, March 6, when
“King” Arthur Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) faces Andre “The
Matrix” Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs) in a Group Stage 2 bout at
the Agua Caliente Casino, Resort, Spa in Rancho Mirage,
Calif. The telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on
the West Coast.
For information
on SHOWTIME Sports Programming, including exclusive
behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete
telecast information and more, please go the new SHOWTIME
Sports website at
http://www.sho.com/sports.