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In the preliminary held at Hanging Gardens Banquets in River Grove, Illinois, last Friday, the inaugural fight card of Chicago Fight Club Promotion, southpaw Joey ‘Twinkle Fingers’ Hernandez won the vacant USBO Light Middleweight championship by disqualification over Angel ‘El Toro’ Hernandez in a dirty bloodbath war. The bout was marked by repeated fouls by both combatants, on the break and after the bell, leading to a chaotic ring riot after the bout ended.
After weeks of taunting on Facebook, it was hard to control emotions at the weigh in. You could cut the tension with a knife as stares went back and forth. After a brief altercation at the weigh in, tensions were not eased, but were enhanced the night of the fight. When the fighters were inside the ring, Joey Hernandez pushed whoever was in his way out of the ring so he could stare down ‘El Toro’ one more time and gain a psychological edge. ‘El Toro’ was not phased by the in-ring hijinks.
Once the fight started, though, it evolved into a bad blood frenzy of left hooks and wild right hands from both fighters, the type that seemed to mimic Rock’em – Sock’em Robots, whereby both fighters try to knock each other’s heads off. ‘El Toro’ was bleeding from the corner of the right eye, while ‘Twinkle Fingers’ was bleeding from the nose.
Joey Hernandez, trying to be the more composed of the two fighters, tried to take advantage of every mishap ‘El Toro’ made. After two rounds of grueling action, near the end of a furious exchange, ‘El Toro’ hit the canvas. At this point, veteran trainer ‘Fearless’ Fernando Fernandez jumped up on the canvas, which in turn gave Joey Hernandez’ camp the impression the fight was over. After ‘El Toro’ received an eight count, the referee felt obliged to let the bout continue, over the objection of the Joey Hernandez corner, who felt the bout should have been stopped by disqualification due to Fernandez entering the ring prematurely.
The incredible fast and furious pace continued in round three, until coming to an almost second wind gathering in round four. Even at this pace, it seemed certain someone was going to wind up getting knocked out. As the punches accumulated, aiming became less of an option. The referee, in an attempt to gain control of the fight, warned both individuals numerous times, especially for hitting off the break and told both fighters to keep it clean. To no avail, the hatred between the two Hernandez’ superseded the referee’s instructions.
At one point, the referee saw ‘El Toro’ land a low blow and sent him to the neutral corner, allotting Joey Hernandez a mandatory rest period of five minutes to regain his wind. However, the break proved unnecessary as Joey Hernandez was anxious to get back into the heat of combat. The action resumed and became more furious due to the low blow. The bout escalated into one final frenzy in the eighth round, and ‘El Toro’ was disqualified after one more final hit on the break.
At this point, Joey Hernandez jumped onto the second rope and raised his hands in victory, and received one more final punch to the back of the neck from ‘El Toro’, triggering a free-for-all of punches between corner men. As people pushed into the ring, a riot ensued, and Chicago’s finest had their hands full attempting to control the melee. The riot continued both inside and outside the ring between Puerto Rican and Mexican fans on both sides. It ended five minutes later when the manager of Angel Hernandez, Wasfi Tolaymat, entered the ring and made both fighters hug each other, explaining “It’s over.”
Angel ‘Toro’ Hernandez, Chicago, Illinois, originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, fell to 30-10 (17). Joey ‘Twinkle Fingers’ Hernandez, Miami, Florida, rose to 17-1-1 (10).
Preliminary Bouts
Light Welterweights
Antonio Canas, Chicago, Illinois Win TKO 1 Andrew Hartley, Fort Smith, Arkansas
Time of stoppage 1:51
Hartley down twice from knockdowns, once from a slip.
Welterweights
Lanardo Tyner, Detroit, Michigan Draw 8 Adrian Granados, Chicago, Illinois
Granados, a last minute substitute, avoided exchanges most of the bout.
Lightweights
Mike Jimenez, Chicago, Illinois UD 4 Cameron Allen, Battle Creek, Michigan
Allen hung tough and made Jimenez work for the win.
Brooke Dierdorff, Chicago, Illinois Draw 4 Ashleigh Curry, St. Joseph, Missouri
Mostly a wrestling and holding affair.
‘Hollywood’ Eric Estrada, Chicago, UD 6 James Lester, Detroit, Michigan.
Lester appeared rusty. Estrada was busier of the two. Lester landed though.
Scheduled bouts featuring Chicago fighters Boban Samic, George Esho, Sergio Montes de Oca and David Estrada were scratched from the card. All four will appear on the next Chicago Fight Club Promotion card in late May 2011, date and venue to be determined. Also scheduled to in May for the CFC card will be the professional debut of Dominican amateur light heavyweight prospect Felix Manuel Alvarez, veteran of 276 amateur bouts.
