The 3,158 patrons attending tonight’s “Viva Don King II” boxing event Saturday night in Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., were treated to a great card culminating with a staggering heavyweight knockout by Hartford’s Tony “TNT” Grano over DaVarryl Williamson. Grano claims the vacant NABF heavyweight championship.
Tony Grano: (Won the vacant NABF heavyweight championship): “DaVarryl caught me with a good right hand in the second round. I didn’t want to get caught again, so I started moving to my right and resetting before he had a chance to try and tag me with those long arms.
“I had him in big trouble and tried to take him out in the third round. To be honest, I expended a lot of energy, so I regained my composure in the fourth and caught him right on the button with a right hand for the knockout.
“I think I showed everyone tonight that I have a knockout punch. I’d like a shot at Vitali Klitschko before he retires. Right now I can’t wait to get back to Connecticut to celebrate.”
Angelo Santana: “I was very happy with my performance tonight. I didn’t know my opponent (Justin Savi] was going to switch to southpaw on me. I trained for a right-hander but it turned out well at the end.
“He kept coming in and we kept butting heads from the opening round. That happened because he kept changing his stance. Savi was a very strong fighter tonight but I trained for 12 rounds and I was able to stop him early.”
Joey Hernandez “I was a little flat in the beginning but I found my groove quickly.
“A lot of people tell me I look a lot like Victor Ortiz but I sure have bigger balls than he does. I heard he quit on his stool tonight in Los Angeles. Now Canelo Alvarez needs an opponent, so if he wants to fight a young lion, I’m here in Miami. I’m calling out all the junior middleweights”
Omar Henry “I tried to knock him [Tyrone Selders] down but he was a tough guy. I was full of speed tonight. I was prepared well and felt great. I loved putting on a great performance for the fans. I turned it up at the end of each round because I wanted to finish strong for the judges.
“I’d like to fight K9 Bundrage or Cory Spinks after they fight for a world title one week from tonight. I will fight anyone at 154 pounds.
“I tweaked my right hand but I’m sure it will be alright.”
Thomas Snow: “A lot of people thought I couldn’t make 115, so I defied the odds to take it a weight class down [112 pounds] just to show I could. The people who thought I couldn’t make 115 can kiss my ass. Thanks to everyone and I’ll take all challengers at 115 pounds.”
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
