Hernandez Wins At Casino Miami Jai-Alai Show

ByBoxing Press

An action-packed evening of boxing was showcased on Saturday night at the all-new Casino Miami Jai-Alai, which opened as Miami Jai-Alai in 1926 and just finished an 87-million casino expansion.

This was the first boxing show at the historic Miami boxing venue since 2004.

Joey “Twinkle Fingers” Hernandez, 21-1-1 (12), stopped opponent Shakir Ashanti, 16-13 (4), at 2:46 of the first frame of their scheduled ten round lightweight contest.

“I’m a bad dude when I want to be,” said Hernandez. “I wiped out Shakir Ashanti like a plate of dishes in the first round—and he went 10 rounds with Cory Spinks! I hit him with a left hook. Once I smell blood I go in for the kill.”

Heavyweight contender Bermane “B-Ware” Stiverne, 22-1-1 (20), posted an eight round unanimous decision over veteran Willie Herring, 13-1 (3), with scores of 79-73, 79-73 and 77-75.

“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,” said Stiverne.

“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.”

Brazil’s Marcus “Happy” Oliveira, 23-1-1 (23), kept a perfect knockout record at light heavyweight, finishing off Adam Collins, 11-6 (8), at 1:49 of the first round.

“I predicted I would win the fight with a body shot and I did,” said Oliveira. “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.”

Cruiserweight Azea “Haitian Hitman” Augustama also provided fireworks on the bill, knocking out opponent Grover Young, 6-7-2 (3), at :55 of the second round.

“It was great to fight at home with my fans cheering for me,” said Augustama. “I wanted to put on a good show. I was fighting a southpaw but it didn’t bother me. I squeezed in a right hand that forced him to take a knee.”