In a huge upset, super featherweight O’Shaquie Foster (14-2, 8 KOs) scored a lopsided ten round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten and highly touted Jon Fernandez (16-1, 14 KOs) on Friday night at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Fernandez, a native of Spain and protégé of former unified middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, never really got untracked and Foster outboxed and outworked him all the way. Scores were 98-92 across the board.
“This was the best fight of my career,” said Foster, who was appearing on the ShoBox series for the fourth time. “I knew I had it in me, I just never put it together. I have a new team, I have a new trainer, a new strength and conditioning coach. This was what I dreamed of and we put in the work to make it happen.
“I knew he was a puncher and he’d come forward the whole fight. I knew I had to work off my jab and use my lateral movement. He had a little power, but he never got me clean. We’re going to sit down and look at the drawing board. I can tell you this, we’re not the B-side anymore.”
Fernandez improved throughout the second half of the fight, landing a big right hand in the sixth round that briefly wobbled Foster. However, the Spaniard was unable to extend his impressive KO streak of 14 consecutive fights.
“His style was frustrating, but we were expecting it,” said the 23-year-old Fernandez, who was widely regarded as one of the top prospects in boxing. “We thought his conditioning would go down and he’d slow down in the later rounds. He didn’t (slow down) and that surprised me.
“I feel like we can still get better and better. We just had a bad game plan for this fight.”
In a clash of undefeated featherweights, Irvin Gonzalez Jr. (11-0, 9 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Carlos Ramos (9-1, 6 KOs). Scores were 80-72, 79-73, 78-74.
In a clash of undefeated lightweights, Steven “The Hit Man” Ortiz (9-0, 3 KOs) outpointed Wesley Ferrer (12-1-1, 7 KOs) over eight rounds with a majority nod. Scores were 76-76, 78-74, 77-75.
In a clash of undefeated super featherweights, Misael Lopez (9-0, 4 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision over James Wilkins (5-1, 5 KOs). Wilkins was deducted a point by referee Mike England for a low blow in round five. He also dropped Lopez in round seven but it was missed by the ref. Scores were 79-72, 77-74, 76-75.
In non-televised undercard action, heavyweight prospect George Arias improved to 12-0, 7 KOs with a second-round knockout (2:18) of Byron Polley, (30-24-1, 13 KOs). Polley was down once in the first and again in the second round which resulted in the stoppage.
Junior middleweight Dennis Knifechief moved to 12-8-1, 7 KOs with a fourth round TKO (1:51) of the valiant Chris Barnes, (4-8-1, 3 KOs). Barnes fought on after being dropped in the first and second rounds and twice more in the fourth.
Middleweight prospect Ardreal Holmes looked dominant and improved to 7-0, 4 KOs with a four-round decision over Rick Graham (6-21-3, 2 KOs). The fight was scored 40-35 twice and 38-37.
A scheduled six-round cruiserweight battle between Bo Gibbs Jr, (20-1-0, 8 KOs) and David Lujan, (4-9-0, 1 KO) resulted in a no-contest due to an accidental clash of heads in the first round.