But Chris “The Mechanic” Smith put an emphatic finish on his North American Boxing Association title…
By Dylan Butler
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY. — It probably should have been stopped at the end of the 11th round, when an exhausted Luis Hernandez stumbled toward the wrong corner.
But Chris “The Mechanic” Smith put an emphatic finish on his North American Boxing Association title defense when the welterweight champion from Queens sent the Ecuadorian to the canvas and through the ropes in the final round.
Dr. Rick Weisman put an end to the fight at the 2:31 mark of the 12th round as Smith, an August Martin grad out of Jamaica, improved to 18-0-1 with 11 knockouts Friday night at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Smith, who beat Darien Ford by unanimous decision in an eight-rounder in his last bout April 22 at Hammerstein Ballroom, dropped Hernandez in the second and ninth rounds and led on all three judges’ cards. And the scorecards, which had Smith in front 106-101, 106-101 and 105-102, were surprisingly close.
At the time of the technical knockout, the TimesLedger had Smith comfortably ahead, 108-100.
“This pushes me to the next level,” Smith said before both fighters were taken to a local hospital for observation. “This is a strong competitor, a very good fighter, and I dismantled him like the mechanic, and I got the stoppage and the fight was exciting. This definitely pushes me to a much bigger fight.”
But it was Hernandez, who dropped to 17-2 and has now lost his last two fights (he lost a unanimous decision to Paul Williams at Foxwoods Casino May 7), who was the aggressor early.
He won three of the first five rounds by pounding away at Smith with a bevy of combinations. But in the second round Smith caught Hernandez, who lives in Patterson, N.J., with a stinging left hook for his first knockdown late in the round.
Hernandez continued to put Smith on the defensive through the next five rounds, but Hernandez started to tire in the seventh and Smith took over. He won the seventh round with an uppercut and a short right that hurt Hernandez, who pulled Smith to the canvas late in the round.
In the ninth, Smith staggered Hernandez with a left hook and then knocked him down for a second time with an overhand right at the end of the round. Hernandez appeared to catch a second wind in the 10th round and both fighters traded punches. Smith received a cut above his right eye while Hernandez was bleeding from the nose.
Smith finally put an end to the entertaining bout with 29 seconds left in the 12th round when a right hook sent Hernandez sprawling through the ropes and onto a ringside press table. Hernandez scrambled to return to the ring, but Weisman put an end to the fight, much to the dismay of Hernandez’s handlers.
“He was throwing punches, wild shots, but nothing was really landing,” Smith said. “They were looking good but I was blocking them, keeping the pressure on him.”
Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
