Nico Hernandez Makes His Pro Debut in Style

2016 Olympic bronze medalist Nico Hernandez (1-0, 1 KO) made his debut with a first round stoppage over at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas. 

In a fight scheduled for six-rounds, Hernandez stopped flyweight Patrick Gutierrez (0-3) in the fourth round. Hernandez pounded on him until Gutierrez's corner threw in the towel.

Hernandez became only the fourth United States Olympic medalist in the last 40 years to make his pro debut at home in a nationally televised main event. The other three members of this special quartet, all Olympic gold medalists and pro debut winners, include Hall of Famer "Sugar" Ray Leonard (Feb. 5, 1977, in Baltimore, MD, two-time world champion Mark Breland and world title challenger Paul "Super Fly" Gonzales.

“I kind of got carried away because I wanted to go in there and tear his head off,” Hernandez said to Kansas.com. “I had to pick my shots a little bit better after that.”

“I know a lot of people underestimate (my power) because they’ve never been hit by me. I mean, I don’t look like I can hit that hard.”

Undefeated prospect Tramaine "The Mighty Midget" Williams (10-0, 3 KOs), a gifted southpaw from New Haven (CT), won an eight round unanimous decision over Texas featherweight Eduardo Garza (6-1, 2 KOs), who went down twice in the fight. The scores were 79-71, 79-71 and 78-72.
 
Opening the televised segment of the card, in an eight-round match, explosive junior middleweight Neeco "Rooster" Macias (15-0, 8 KOs), of Palm Desert, California, got in an tough eight round unanimous decision over Mexican veteran Cesar Soriano (26-35-1, 16 KOs). The scores were 78-73, 80-71, 79-72.