Oct. 27, 1962 - Rubin (Hurricane) Carter (right), a middleweight from Paterson N.J., needed only 69 seconds to knock Florentino Fernandez flatter than a waffle tonight at Madison Square Garden. The first time Carter unloaded with a right directly on the point of the chin, Fernandez was bounced on the seat of his pants. The shock of it made Florentino react like a yo-yo. He bounced right up. That was his first mistake. Carter, apparently certain that he had his man, walked to a neutral corner, turned his back to Fernandez, and gazed at the Garden crowd. Then the action resumed. There wasn’t much left. A hard right to the cheek and a left hook to the chin knocked Fernandez through the ropes and onto the apron on the 49th Street side of the Garden ring. His eyes were open, but he could not move. That completed Carter’s Garden debut — one of the fastest and most impressive on record. Fernandez was examined by the ring doctor and then sent to the hospital for observation.
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