Hernandez Makes Chop Chop Go Night Night On ShoBox

Chop Chop Corley's been on  a solid run of late, especially considering all the mileage the 35 year-old has on him. And for four rounds at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California on Friday night, Corley was giving Freddy Hernandez all he could handle and more. But a double shot of rights in the fifth put Chop Chop night night, to the extent that ref Pat Russell didn't need to count past four.

It looked like it was going to be a long, hard slog for Hernandez, whose sole loss came in 2005 to Golden Johnson. But his game changer right cut the evening short, and gave Corley just his third stoppage loss since turning pro in 1996.

Hernandez (age 30; from Mexico, living in CA; 27-1-1 entering) was 148 pounds, while Corley (former 140 pound titlist; from DC; age 35; 36-12-1 entering) was 143 pounds at the weigh in. The contract was okayed for a pound over the 147 pound limit, so it was surprising when Corley, a winner of five of his last six bouts,gave up five pounds.

In the first round of the ShoBox feature scrap, we saw that CC's hands are still speedy, and he sought to make the fight, not just skate through. He chowed a straight right, and nodded to Freddy in appreciation.

In the second, a straight right buckled CC a minute in. But he looked sure of himself, even winging lead left uppercuts. A slice showed up on Freddy's right eye, from a butt.

In the third, Freddy's weak jab didn't scare CC. But that right, different story. CC sure did respect it, anyway...

In the fourth, both men continued some solid body work. CC plowed forward, doing his thing, and then sometimes clinching. His right hook scored well through four. CC slipped to the mat, and ref Pat Russell proved his worth with an eagle eye at the end of the round.

In round five, a vicious right sent CC down, and had him asleep. Russell didn't even finish the count. The end came at 1:48. All the judges had the fight knotted at 38-38 through four.

Francisco Contreras (12-0 entering) from the DR met Juan Castaneda (a pumped up 16-2) of Mexico in a junior welterweight scrap which kicked off the TV portion of the event.

In the first, Contreras put himself on the TSS Prospect Watch list. His jab is no joke, and his power punching is top tier. A vicious combo ended the night for Castaneda at 1:38 of the opening session