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Booker Scorches Hernandez At ‘Summer Heat 2023’
Chordale "The Gift" Booker (20-1, 9 KOs) turned in a
masterful performance on Saturday night, dropping Nicolas
Hernandez (27-7-3, 12 KOs) twice in round 7 for an explosive
knockout at 2:41 of the round. The fight capped an 8-bout
CES Boxing card that took place in front of a capacity crowd
of 4,235 who showed up to Mohegan Sun Arena early to see the
"Jimmy Burchfield Invitational," a 10-bout amateur showcase
that took place before the pro card.
With the win, Booker retained the WBC US Super Welterweight
title that he won at the same venue in April of this year.
It was the third fight of 2023 for ‘The Gift,’ who was sharp
from the opening bell.
"This was very satisfying for me," said Booker moments after
the battle of southpaws. "I had some things I wanted to work
on, and I had a tough guy in front of me who didn’t fall
from the first shot. He was coming to win, and that’s what I
wanted."
Booker took control of the fight in the opening round with
sharp right jabs to Hernandez’s head and body. His game plan
was to capitalize off the mistakes of his 39-year-old
opponent with stinging counter shots.
"He was reaching with his shots from the beginning, so I
wanted to take advantage of that" explained Booker, who
threw short, compact counter lefts hands and a sneaky right
uppercut in round 2. "When he would throw his left hand, I
would roll and come back with my left hand."
The 32-year-old Booker kept Hernandez guessing in round 3,
varying his punches and speed. His Puerto Rican opponent out
of Reading, PA seemed lost, getting countered every time he
mounted an attack.
"I was changing up my shots," explains Booker. "He was ok
standing really close to me, so I started putting my punches
together, changing the pace of the shots and occasionally
sitting down on my punches. That’s what got him: I would hit
him with a number of punches, then a hard one, then a number
of punches again. He never knew which one would be hard, so
it disoriented him."
‘The Gift’ began delivering a one-sided beating in round 4,
stunning Hernandez with a right hook. The patient and
composed Booker couldn’t miss with his counter punches, and
it looked like the end was near.
The ringside doctor checked on Hernandez in between rounds,
and this seemed to give the Puerto Rican a sense of urgency.
Hernandez came out swinging in round 5, finally landing a
few punches of note, including a solid left to the body that
momentarily forced Booker to back up and regroup.
"I got a little too comfortable in front of him," admitted
Booker. "He caught me with a good left hand that knocked me
off balance. It was cool though because I heard the crowd
get loud. It created some drama. I liked that he came to
fight because it lit a fire under me. He started yelling
‘come on!’ and I thought ‘wow, this dude really believes he
can win this’".
The crowd included former world champions Tony Harrison,
Vinny Paz, and ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson, as well as current
undisputed super featherweight world champion Alycia
Baumgardner, an amateur teammate of Booker’s who was invited
into the ring just before the bout began.
After a contested round 6, Booker stunned Hernandez at the
end of a combination in round 7. Hernandez fought back
valiantly, but Chordale began landing at will. Just when it
seemed like Hernandez could absorb Booker’s power, the
Stamford native finally dropped Hernandez with a furious
combination punctuated by a left hand.
"The first knockdown was an accumulation of punches,"
described Booker. "Instead of going for a hard shot, I was
touching him everywhere he went. He had nowhere to feel like
he was safe. He kept running into the next shot, and his
hands started to come down. I knew he would get back up once
he hit the canvas because it wasn’t a hard shot that got him
down, it was an accumulation."
The game Hernandez beat the count, but Booker followed up
with a leaping right hook that dropped the Puerto Rican in a
heap, causing referee Johnny Callas to immediately halt the
bout. The ending was reminiscent of the left hook that
‘Sugar’ Shane Mosely launched to end his bout against
Ricardo Mayorga in 2015. It would’ve made Roy Jones Jr.
proud.
"That’s a shot I work on with my coaches," explained Booker.
"I try to work on shots that are going to surprise guys. I
threw a lot of straight shots tonight, so I didn’t think he
would be prepared for that, and he fell right into it."
With his 20th win in the bag, Booker would like to remain
active and focus on a world title shot in 2024.
"I want to stay active; it keeps me sharp," said an elated
Booker of his immediate goals. "I love Mohegan – the fans
here are so supportive. Having Tony Harrison and Alycia
Baumgardner in attendance meant a lot to me. I’m knocking on
everybody’s door. I would love to bring a title or a big
fight here. We can do Tim Tszyu, James Metcalf, Brian
Mendoza, or even someone who recently lost to those guys.
Whatever I can do to get myself to the next level."
Hall of famer Jaime "The Hurricane" Clampitt wins battle of
attrition
In the co-feature, Jaime Clampitt continued her successful
comeback, nearly shutting out tough Ecuadorian Josefina Vega
(9-6, 4 KOs) for a unanimous 8 round decision in a Super
Lightweight contest. Scores were 80-72 (2x) and 78-74 for
the 4-time champion.
As promised at the final press conference, the women came to
fight, with the shorter Vega looking to flurry while the
stronger Clampitt countered with sharp overhand rights.
"I felt good, really focused," said Clampitt of her
performance. "We didn’t know what to expect with her because
it was really hard to get any film on her, so I didn’t know
what I was going to get. She definitely was in shape. She
came to fight."
What the Warwick, RI resident got was an all-out brawl in
round 3, with the former champion getting the best of the
exchanges and Vega beginning to breath heavily in between
exchanges. An emboldened Clampitt began to press the action
in round 4, sitting on her right hands and forcing the Quito
native to retreat.
"Early on I landed some flush right hands and I think it set
her back a bit," said Clampitt. "I was trying to go for the
knockout, but she was there to win. She’s very tough."
Clampitt began walking Vega down in round 6 behind a steady
jab and heavy right hands. The 39-year-old Vega was game,
but it was evident in round 7 that she couldn’t hurt
Clampitt.
"I didn’t feel any power, and because of that I should’ve
taken a few more chances," admitted Clampitt. "I was trying
to be safe and work behind my jab and set up body shots. It
was a little difficult because she was shorter than me, but
I felt like my right hand was landing really well."
Despite being outgunned, Vega engaged Clampitt in another
non-stop exchange throughout the 8th and final round. While
the Ecuadorian didn’t have enough firepower to hurt Clampitt,
she gave a good accounting of herself, providing the
47-year-old with an opportunity to display her skillset and
the tremendous shape she was in.
"It was a good fight for me to showcase what I was working
on," explained Clampitt. "Next time I just need to follow
through a little bit more and throw more combinations to get
the knockout."
With another win in a hall-of-fame career, the former two
division champion improved to 25-6-2 (7) as she closes in on
another title shot.
"I want to keep going," said Clampitt. "I’m 47, but I don’t
feel like I’m 47. I feel healthy and strong, and I have the
passion for it. I have the right people behind me, so I want
to see where I can take it."
Other Action
Undefeated Super Featherweight Alejandro Paulino blitzed his
Argentine opponent Julian Aristule in one round. CES
Boxing’s newest signing showed why he was one of the most
sought-after prospects in New England, dropping Aristule
with a left hook moments into the bout. The 53-fight veteran
beat the count but was greeted by an all-out assault
punctuated by a big concussive right hand that dropped him
for the count at 1:54 of the round. New London’s Paulino
improved to 15-0 (13) with the win, while Aristule dropped
to 35-18-1 (18).
New Bedford, MA’s Wilson Mascarenhas (8-1, 3 KOs) continued
his assault on the jr. welterweight division, impressively
breaking down and stopping Anthony Mora (2-1, 1 KO) in round
3 of a scheduled 6 round bout. After a feel-out first round,
Wilson landed a short hook, right hand combination in round
2 and began to tee off on a hurt Mora, who was covering up
and looking to survive the storm. There was a long break in
between rounds as the ringside physician checked out Mora,
but ‘Ill Will’ went for the kill as soon as the action
resumed. New Britain’s Mora seemed to be fighting off
instinct but was outgunned and taking a lot of punishment as
the round came to an end. The ringside physician had seen
enough in between rounds, advising referee Johnny Callas to
stop the bout. Wilson is now 2-0 since returning from a
horrific stabbing he suffered in March 2022.
Anthony "ATV" Velasquez (13-0-1, 12 KOs) made quick work of
Argentina’s Mario Bustos (7-10, 3 KOs), launching a
hellacious body attack punctuated by left hooks that dropped
Bustos twice for a knockout at 1:48 of the very first
stanza. With the win, the junior middleweight out of
Springfield, MA bounced back from a disappointing draw in
his April bout at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Mike "The Savage" Kimbel improved to 3-0 (2), winning a
shutout unanimous decision over Brockton, MA’s Stephen Davis
(1-1, 1 KO) in a 4 round super lightweight bout. Kimbel, who
is trained by former light heavyweight champion ‘Bad’ Chad
Dawson, was too strong for the game Davis. The Waterbury, CT
native won the first two rounds with sharper punches. Davis
countered effectively in round 3, but the stalking Kimbel
staggered him near the end of the round with a heavy left
hook, right hand combination. Davis stuck to his jab in
round 4, but ‘The Savage’ stunned him with a left hook that
caused Davis to retreat with Kimbel in hot pursuit as the
bout came to an end. Scores were 40-36 (3x).
In a welterweight bout, Jeffrey Gonzalez (4-0, 2 KOs)
knocked out Hartford native Joe Wilson Jr. (3-6) at 1:54 of
round 3. Gonzalez dropped Wilson twice in round 1 with
crushing right hands. "Jabbing Joe" survived the assault,
but it was evident that Gonzalez was hurting Wilson with
every clean shot that he landed. The East Haven native
caught Wilson with a sneaky right uppercut in round 2 that
dropped Wilson for a third time. Despite being completely
outgunned, Wilson fought back valiantly in round 3, but
Gonzalez landed a counter right hand near the end of the
round that caused Joe’s glove to touch the canvas. Rather
than allowing Wilson to take anymore punishment, Referee
Harvey Dock wisely stopped the bout.
In the opening pro bout of the evening, Slawomir Bohdziewicz
improved to 2-0 (2) with an impressive knockout of Gabriel
Costa (2-5). The Polish prospect continuously caught the
Woburn, MA resident in round 1, first with left hooks and
later with right hands as Costa moved straight back. Costa
pressured the Stamford resident in round 2, looking to
disrupt Bohdziewicz by switching from orthodox to southpaw
and even spinning after missing a punch. The Polish prospect
was unnerved, however, going to the body before launching a
series of stinging uppercuts that dropped Costa hard.
Referee Harvey Dock reached a count of 10 with Costa on his
knees at 2:40 of round 2.
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