Two prospects from Albany, N.Y., notched wins.  Junior welterweight Amir Imam emerged as a fighter to watch after dispatching John Willoughby with a body shot at 1:17 into the second round, keeping his record perfect with four wins.  Heavyweight Trevor Bryan stayed unblemished at 3-0 after winning a unanimous decision over Brandon Spencer.

MIAMI -- Don King Productions returned to Miami Jai-Alai on Saturday to present the first boxing card at the all-new Casino Miami Jai-Alai where World Boxing Council No. 1-ranked heavyweight contender Bermane “B-Ware” Stiverne improved to 22-1-1 with a unanimous decision after receiving a spirited 10-round challenge from Willie Herring.  Two judges favored Stiverne 79-73, while the final scorer saw it a bit closer at 77-75.

Stiverne, a Haitian-born fighter that was raised in Miami who also lived in Canada and Las Vegas, normally makes quick work of his opponents as evidenced by his 20 knockouts.  Herring, from Orlando, weighed in at 212 ¾ pounds to Stiverne’s 243 and proved to be not only lighter but fast on his feet.

“Willie Herring gave me just what I needed tonight, a chance to show all the things we’ve been working on in the gym like head movement, establishing my jab, body shots and throwing punches in bunches,” Stiverne said in the ring after winning the decision. “I came to fight and so did Herring.  I threw a lot of leather and he got most of it.”

“Herring is lighter and moves well so it wasn’t easy for me to land everything I threw, but he knew when I did.”

Stiverne, the WBC’s top-ranked contender, revealed after the fight that he injured his right hand in the second round and was taken to the hospital after the fight to have his hand evaluated.

World Boxing Council United States super welterweight champion Joey “Twinkle Fingers” Hernandez moved to 21-1-1 after scoring a stunning first-round technical knockout with just seconds over the normally durable Shakir “The Assassin” Ashanti from New Bern, S.C.

“I’m a bad dude when I want to be,” an elated Hernandez declared after the fight.  “I wiped out Shakir Ashanti like a plate of dishes in the first round – and he went 10 rounds with Cory Spinks!

“I hit him with a left hook. Once I smell blood I go in for the kill.”

The under card proved entertaining with Brazilian light heavyweight knockout artist Marcus “Happy” Oliveira, from Sao Paulo, knocking out Adam “Atom Bomb” Collins, from Portsmouth, Ohio, with a devastating body shot just 49 seconds into the opening stanza to move to 23-1-1.

“I predicted I would win the fight with a body shot and I did,” Oliveira said.  “My body shot dropped him for good. The last time I saw a body shot like that was Tito Trinidad vs. Rafael Pineda. I’m a big Tito fan, so I have always wanted to land a body shot like that.”

“I’m ready to fight for a world championship this year.  I’d fight Nathan Cleverly tomorrow.”

Another light heavyweight left an impression when Azea “Haitian Hitman” Augustama, from Miami, advanced his career to 13-1 via second-round knockout over 23-year-old Grover Young, from Memphis.

“It was great to fight at home with my fans cheering for me,” Augustama said.  “I wanted to put on a good show.

“I was fighting a southpaw but it didn’t bother me.  I squeezed in a right hand that forced him to take a knee.”

Two prospects from Albany, N.Y., notched wins.  Junior welterweight Amir Imam emerged as a fighter to watch after dispatching John Willoughby with a body shot at 1:17 into the second round, keeping his record perfect with four wins.  Heavyweight Trevor Bryan stayed unblemished at 3-0 after winning a unanimous decision over Brandon Spencer.

This marked the first boxing match at the all-new Casino Miami Jai-Alai, an $87-million casino expansion to Miami Jai-Alai, and the first matches at the property since 2004.

Miami Jai-Alai first opened in 1926 and has enjoyed a proud tradition in boxing since the 1960s.  They earned the moniker “Mecca of Miami” in the sport after having staged numerous world championship matches – including events featured on both HBO and SHOWTIME.  With construction complete, the venue is now known as Casino Miami Jai-Alai with new restaurants, bars and over 1,000 Las Vegas-style slot machines adjacent to the existing fronton where jai-alai continues to be presented live.

“We thought this would be a great time to treat our customers to another Don King boxing card,” Casino Miami Jai-Alai Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Liccardi said.  It’s an exciting time for us, and boxing has been a part of what we do for decades, so we added it to our grand opening celebration lineup.  We loved it and so did our customers.”