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June 5, 2004
The bout kept a near capacity house at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center on their feet throughout, as the early aggressor Hernandez threw one bomb after another, with Smith absorbing a lot of the punishment, then effectively countering. But it didn't take long for Smith to take advantage of the gaping openings in Hernandez' defense, often left wide open after throwing bombs from left field.
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In the final round, Smith came out very aggressive, looking to finish an apparently spent Hernandez. And that he did. With about a minute remaining, The Mechanic landed a picture perfect right that sent the exhausted Hernandez crashing through the ropes and onto the scorer's table. Hernandez scrambled through the ropes and to his feet, but the physician at ringside has seen enough, as he entered the ring to instruct referee Benji Estevez to call a halt to the bout with about half a minute remaining.
UNDERCARD ACTION
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In other action, Leonard Pierre to 15-0 with 10 knockouts by posting a fourth round TKO over Detroit's Leon Pearson (11-13-3).
In heavyweight action, Fernely Feliz took care of Wallace McDaniel at 1:32 of the second round to move his record to 21-4 with 14 knockouts. Also on the card, heavyweight David Polk was knocked down, but did enough on the judges' scorecards to take a split decision win over Brooklyn's Anthony Ottah. The decision brought heavy booing from the Poughkeepsie faithful, which felt Ottah did enough to take the win.
