Victor Hernandez TKO10 Jayvon Garnett... Victor “Jalapeno” Hernandez (14-0, 12 KOs) used relentless pressure and high-volume punching to wear down and stop Jayvon “Jigsaw” Garnett (10-2, 5 KOs) in the tenth and final round of a featherweight contest on Saturday night at the Fairgrounds Arena in Nashville. Fighting in the main event of Christy Martin Promotions’ show, Hernandez dominated the capable Garnett in every minute of every round, firing hard punches to the head and body with abandon. The end came at 2:23 of the tenth when referee Duane Edwards rescued the exhausted Garnett as he slowly sank to the canvas. “I trained just to be hot and spicy,” said a happy Hernandez, postfight. “You know what happens when you take a bite of a jalapeno and it’s too hot? It burns your ass. He just didn’t know that. Anybody that wants to give me an opportunity, get in touch with Christy Martin or Lisa Holewyne,” continued Hernandez. “Whoever wants it, let’s do it. I want them all.”
UNDERCARD
Popular junior welterweight Louui IV Spencer (2-0, 1 KO) of Clarksville, Tennessee, won a wide four-round unanimous decision over Cody Jenkins (0-6) of Virginia. After getting the better in the first two rounds, Spencer dropped Jenkins with a two-punch salvo to the body in round three and then followed up with a barrage that had Jenkins down again at the end of the frame. A left hook to the body put Jenkins down again in round four, but the multi-sport Virginian tough guy was able to last the distance. The scores were 40-33 and 40-34 (twice).
Super bantamweight southpaw Yoruba “The Slim Reaper” Moreu made a successful pro debut, scoring a second-round TKO over 1-16 Ndira “Paco” Spearman of Lavergne, Tennessee. Spearman has not won a bout in more than nine years. A former amateur champion from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Moreu sent Spearman down a total of five times from a mix of l right hooks to the head and body in round one. Spearman was down twice more in round two before Referee Duane Edwards indicated he’d finally seen enough at 1:45 of the second. “I feel like I could have worked better off the jab, but it’s my pro debut,” said Moreu after the fight. “It’s all part of the game. I’ll go back to the gym and fix up my little tweaks and be good. I don’t care if you’re big, strong, little, whatever... I’m going to that body. You have to protect that body at all times or I will snatch it, for sure.”
Fan-favorite welterweight Hadrian Phillips (2-0, 2 KOs) of nearby Clarksville, Tennessee, made quick work of winless Keith Foreman (0-7-1) of Harlingen, Texas, knocking him out with a two-piece combo at 1:13 of the opening round. “It can’t get much better than that,” said Phillips, post-fight. “I felt good in there and came out and did what I had to do. Boxing is a hard sport and a lonely sport, and I have nothing but love for everyone who supports me.”
In the opening fight of the night, light heavyweight Bryan “King” Goldsby II (2-0, 2 KOs) stayed undefeated with a second-round TKO over “Mr. Composure” El Av Yashar'El (11-41-3, 6 KOs). Goldsby showed good punching power, as Yashar'El was down twice from hard right hands in round one. When Goldsby opened up again in round two, his heavy-handed barrage convinced Referee Anthony Bryant to wave the fight off at 1:46 of the second.
In the four-round “double pro debut” light heavyweight walkout bout, Guy Stanford Jr. of Clarksville, Tennessee, moved to 1-0, 1 KO by stopping Covington, Tennessee’s Jalen Fayne at 30 seconds of round two. Stanford dropped Fayne with a left hook to the body late in round one and finished him with a follow-up barrage to the body early in round two.
In an entertaining, albeit abbreviated slugfest, junior middleweight Evan “Yung Holy” Holyfield (13-1, 9 KOs) of Atlanta scored a second-round stoppage of Jeremiah Robinson (8-6, 8 KOs) of Saint Louis. Holyfield dropped Robinson with a left hook to the liver late in round one. To his credit, Robinson came out firing in round two and may have briefly stunned Holyfield before Holyfield regained his composure and dropped him again with an uppercut to the pit of the stomach. Sensing the end was near, Holyfield moved in for the kill with guns blazing late in the round. Referee Anthony Bryant waved it off as Robinson sank to the canvas for a third time. The time of Holyfield’s TKO victory was 2:58 of the second. In just his second fight since undergoing open-heart surgery, Holyfield expressed his gratitude for even being back in the ring. “Two years ago, if you had asked me would I be in the ring I would have said ‘I don’t know,’ he said. “It’s been a turbulent up and down roller coaster, but here I am.”
