BOXING AT THE IRVINE MARRIOTT : Hernandez Scores Knockout of Alexander in Seventh Round

Carlos “Famous” Hernandez is still unbeaten and going strong after an impressive seventh-round knockout of Paris Alexander Thursday night at the Irvine Marriott.

Hernandez connected with two blazing lefts in the deciding round of the super-lightweight main event. The knockout blow came 2 minutes 6 seconds into the round.

“I got one left to the head and the other to the body,” Hernandez said. “I wanted to knock him out so badly.”

Hernandez of Bellflower had overwhelmed Alexander in the first six rounds and was well ahead on points.

Only one of the three judges had given Alexander a slight advantage on points in the fifth round.

“I wasn’t tired in the round at all, but I may have been resting a little bit,” Hernandez said. “He was an awkward guy to fight because he would grab me and hold on.”

The victory left Hernandez with a 15-0-1 record and hoping for fight with Oscar De La Hoya. Alexander of San Francisco fell to 18-7-2.

Hernandez had put himself in position for the knockout with a strong sixth round. He twice drove Alexander into the ropes with powerful lefts.

In the semi-main event:

Jimmy Bills of Vallejo was a surprise winner in the cruiserweight fight. He knocked out previously unbeaten Dwayne Rosette of San Diego with a left hook to the jaw 1:32 into the third round.

It was Rosette’s first loss in seven bouts. Bills is 16-17-6.

In a bantamweight fight, John Vasquez of Huntington Beach made his professional debut with a first-round knockout of Pablo Barrios of Mexico, 1:28 into the first round.

Jonior Neequay of Ghana won a five-round middleweight bout over Ray Villanuva of Carson by a unanimous decision.

In a featherweight bout, John Ramirez of Oxnard and Manny Nava of Hawaiian Gardens battled to a six-round draw.