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00:00Dominican Olympian Rojan Polanco taking on Mexican veteran Luis Hernandez who
00:06says somebody has to pay for my last loss and that is Rojan Polanco. Send it
00:12up now to Mark Chinook. Ladies and gentlemen welcome inside the James L
00:17Knight Center here in beautiful Miami Florida. This is boxing, this is top-ranked
00:22presented by Hall of Fame boxing promoter Mr. Bob Arum. This bout is
00:26scheduled for eight rounds in the junior lightweight division. Our judges
00:30at ringside Lisa Giampa, Michael Tate and Steve Weisfeld and the man in charge at
00:36the sound of the bell Mr. Luis Pabon. Introducing first out of the blue corner
00:42he weighed in at 143 pounds wearing black trunks with gold trim. His record
00:4923 victories with four defeats 20 of those victories coming by way of
00:54knockout from Chihuahua Mexico Luis El Matador Hernandez.
01:07Introducing out of the red corner he weighed in at 142.4 pounds wearing red
01:15trunks with white gray and blue trim. His record perfect 12 fights 12 victories
01:23seven of those victories coming by way of knockout. In the summer of 2021 he
01:29represented his country at the Tokyo Olympics from Santo Domingo Dominican
01:35Republic, Rojan El Rayo Polanco!
01:53We said it was a night of merengue here in Miami. Dominican talent to start off
02:09the night El Di Cedeño with the 58 second body shot knockout. Jan Santana
02:14who went 10 wonderful rounds against Brandon Valdez that'll serve him well
02:19down the line in his career. What do you expect Chris from Rojan Polanco in
02:24against the rugged Mexican Luis El Matador Hernandez. I like Polanco you know
02:29he's we spoke about this off air he's got a mean streak in him and I like
02:32fighters like that you know he's he's very technical absolutely he's he's got
02:37a good punch he doesn't have a ton of knockouts in his 12 wins only seven
02:41but he's very technical he's fundamental you see him fighting at that crotch
02:44position but he's got that mean streak and I'd like to see that in a young
02:49fighter. Oh nice short left there as the referee was asking him to break right to
02:55the body from Hernandez. Polanco and his team told our own Tim Bradley why am I
03:03not on that double stamp prospect list here after 12 professional fights and
03:09every time out he tries to prove why he belongs to be in there. Tough test here
03:15against Luis Hernandez who's coming off of a fourth round knockout loss against
03:19Mexican Olympian Lindolfo Delgado he was dropped by a left uppercut and three
03:23right hand combo in the fourth round that was his first stoppage loss in four
03:27fights on four losses. He's got a 27 fight veteran here fighting a guy who's 12 and
03:35it's no easy task for Polanco. Nice straight right there from Polanco and
03:42the way he puts his punches together that really make him interesting you
03:46know even when he first started here on top rank on ESPN he told us I'm not
03:50your typical fighter who's making the transition from amateur to pros you know
03:55from the Olympics I'm a sit down on his punches type of guy as you can see here
03:59there's no dancing around there's no bouncing on my feet. Yeah no definitely a
04:03pro style you can see that how he picks his punches loads up finds his openings
04:07is willing to stay in the pocket you see he's got that shoulder roll defense he
04:10leans back on that shot because he's really looking for his offense trying to
04:14create those openings. The corner of Hernandez says I think Polanco drops his
04:20hands he can be time because sometimes he depends on his defense a little too
04:24much. You see him using that shoulder roll once again Philly shell. Loving that
04:30left touch of the body from Polanco.
04:36Splitting the guard there with the right hand nice overhand not see how he
04:39varies up the punch shows the right hand the middle and then throws the looping
04:43shot over the top. Nice overhand right once again from Polanco doubles up on
04:50that right hand and then a left uppercut. But you see how he closes the distance
04:53against behind that mid-distance jab gets himself in position drops his head
04:57gets his head off line with the uppercut over the top right hand there it is again.
05:01That right hand he just threw was kind of off balance but you wouldn't expect
05:05it and all of a sudden it's on the chin of Hernandez who takes a right uppercut and a left hook.
05:09Beautiful variation there was coming with the overhands the overhands and
05:12then switches to an uppercut landed a nice clean shot more uppers more over the top.
05:15Wow what a start for Rojan Polanco here against Mexico's Luis Hernandez who
05:24needs help to get back to his corner. Bad intentions on those punches. All right
05:30and there is maybe the only man who's better dressed than our very own Chris
05:36Algieri Emiliano El General Fernando Vargas the son of the former champion
05:42All Salmon today so he picked up on the Crockett and Tubbs Miami Vice style.
05:47Listen he got the memo he's coming to Miami you gotta you gotta show out you
05:50gotta you gotta bring in the pastels you got to bring the Art Deco and like I
05:54said he he did his research came prepared as he I'm sure will come time
05:59to step in the ring. And Emiliano Vargas is on the Tim Bradley double stamp
06:05prospect list that Rojan Polanco so badly wants to be on and earn his way on
06:11that list and what impresses you about Emiliano Vargas? I mean he's on my
06:15superstar my future superstar list but with him I mean he speaking about the
06:18killer instinct he's got that too he's got the looks he's got the smile he's
06:21got the you know the fundamentals but he wants to hurt you he wants to get the
06:25knockout I love seeing that in these young prospects. And he's a guy who
06:28understands what weight the name brings both on the positive side and on the
06:35pressure side and he embraces it. Absolutely and I think it makes him
06:38perform better you know he relishes that you know some guys are like that some
06:42guys are not and Emiliano certainly is. See Polanco stand up a little bit
06:46straight there. Very straight. Left hand down and that's what the trainer of Luis
06:52Hernandez mentioned to me Rodolfo El Picos Montes he says that's what we can
06:58take advantage of but he's also got quick reflexes to go with it. Yeah it's
07:01very inviting and I think that's kind of a misdirect from Polanco he's
07:06walking up to this chin up in the air he's straight up but like as you said
07:09Bernardo his reactions are very good but it also creates openings for his
07:13offense. And it gives you a sense of comfort like I'm gonna I'm gonna hit you
07:18with something and all of a sudden you're getting hit with that. Yeah the
07:22way he switches from offense to defense he's very relaxed on defense and very
07:27aggressive on offense. You know Polanco's very clear he told me you know I wait
07:31for my opponent to throw and then I can counter him but sometimes he decides to
07:35take the lead like he's doing here with the body shot. Oh that left to deliver
07:38hurt Hernandez who has to hold on. I love that double shot little touched
07:42upstairs little tap little boot down below. Again in the right uppercut to
07:46follow up on it. Lindolfo Delgado stopped Hernandez in four. Polanco's got him on
07:52the brink of a knockdown with the body shots here in round three boy did he
07:56load up on that left. Big swing and a miss. This is not where Hernandez wants to be
08:01with his back against the ropes with a puncher like Polanco. Polanco's very good at
08:07shortening up the shots. You hear referee Luis Palon with a very important and
08:16clear warning to Hernandez that if he doesn't start throwing he's gonna stop
08:20this fight because he's not gonna allow Polanco to just tee off on him like he's
08:24doing there. That one took the air out of Hernandez's sails as he walks him back
08:28to the ropes looking for that one finishing shot. You talked about the
08:31mean streak with Polanco he's looking for the shot to go on the highlight reel
08:35how about that double left uppercut. Loving that because before earlier he
08:39heard him with a double that took high and low that went high and high and we're
08:41seeing blood from the nose now of Hernandez blood in the water and Polanco's
08:45looking for a big finish here. And Luis Palon is just looking to Polanco make
08:49him do his job. There's that left uppercut and that's a good stoppage from Luis
08:53Palon because Rohan Polanco was relentless during these first six
08:59minutes of this fight and he forced the stoppage against Luis Hernandez who took
09:04Lindolfo Delgado four rounds to stop him. There was nothing he could do to
09:09get him off of him.
09:15And there he says Tim put me on that list. He performing like that fast track
09:22your way on there. You know what I really like about that he didn't waste anything no
09:26wasted moment you know his defense like I said he's very very relaxed on the
09:29defense but it was time to go offensive picking his punches really well
09:32creating openings finding the holes. Yeah that's one of the punches that's
09:40strong but that left hook downstairs I mean what is it about these Dominican
09:45fighters now they've been working with Cuban trainers out there for this
09:49generation had that the opportunity to work with Cuban trainers and you can
09:54really see the difference in the style moving forward and all these guys are
09:58just beasts. For a long time Dominican fighters are kind of known as like
10:01opponents. You know you build your records in the DR now we got guys who
10:05are becoming world champions that they're starting to learn from like you
10:07said the Cuban coaches and they're developing in a different way taking
10:10that athleticism with that boxing ability now we're getting some top
10:13quality DR fighters. All right let's take a look to the body shots that really
10:17started the end of this fight for Rojan Polanco against Luis Hernandez. Yeah
10:22Luis Hernandez is a very very tough guy obviously Mexican takes those shots well
10:25but man that double left hook and that was actually the second sequence that he
10:28had landed head body and that one doubled him right over you saw it
10:31immediately little short little short shot I don't call that a tap yeah tap on
10:35the nose and then boom to the body tap boom double left hook high low and look
10:39see look out see how calm he is he knows what's coming puts himself back in a
10:43position close to the distance finds that uppercut again just misses with the
10:47right and that was enough for the ref that lead uppercut popping the head up
10:51whenever you see someone's head come way up like that those eye-catching shots
10:54good way to get a stoppage there oh I heard that punch a ringside that thing
10:58was hard you could it was like it was tooth rattling that right hand over the
11:02top and Chris in fairness Luis Pabon had already warned Luis Hernandez show me
11:07something or I'm gonna stop this fight he did say that yes yeah I mean like you
11:11said the word was relentless Polanco once he has you hurt he doesn't let you
11:15let you off the hook he stays very very calm picks his spots and he's vicious
11:19with those finishes. Luis Pabon with good mechanics as a referee giving the
11:22warning before the stoppage. Rohan Polanco relentless in his attack and
11:26Luis Hernandez becomes his ninth knockout victim in 13 fights. Mark Chinook
11:30has the official time. Ladies and gentlemen here inside the James L Knight
11:35Center referee Luis Pabon calls a stop to this bout at two minutes 28 seconds
11:40of round number two. Declaring your winner by technical knockout
11:45Rohan El Rayo Polanco. Five minutes