CWS in the ring with a champ


November 4, 2011

Angelo Santana with CWS-Miami Office staff Mabel Hernandez and Oscar Rivera (wearing CWS shirts), and promoter Don King. Photo: courtesy Reynaldo Sanchez

Angelo Santana with CWS-Miami Office staff Mabel Hernandez and Oscar Rivera (wearing CWS shirts), and promoter Don King. Photo: courtesy Reynaldo Sanchez

Update, Nov. 9:  Church World Service client and boxer Angelo “La Cobra” Santana lived up to his nickname Saturday night (Nov. 5), successfully defending his WBA Super Lightweight title against Broderick Antoine.  Santana won by technical knockout in the first round.  CWS-Miami Office staff Mabel Hernandez and Oscar Rivera joined promoter Don King and others in the ring to congratulate Santana on his victory.  During the broadcast on Wealth TV, King recognized CWS’s role in helping Santana resettle in the U.S.

Hollywood, Fla. – Church World Service will step into the ring – literally – this Saturday night, November 5, by invitation of boxer Angelo “La Cobra” Santana and his promoter, Don King.

Santana, 24, a Cuban who received help from CWS in 2007 after reaching Florida on a homemade raft, will be defending his WBA Super Lightweight title at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

His fight will be the second in the show, which is to be webcast live beginning at 8 p.m. (Eastern) on Wealth TV.

CWS Miami Office Director Oscar Rivera and Associate Director Mabel Hernandez have passes to go into the ring, where Don King is to introduce them to Saturday night’s crowd.  King also has set aside eight ringside seats for Rivera, Hernandez and colleagues.

In addition, CWS helped Don King Productions locate two of the 26 Cuban rafters who traveled with Santana to Florida in 2007; they are to walk Santana into the ring on Saturday night.

CWS, through its Cuban-Haitian Entrants Program, had assisted Santana with shelter, food and clothing upon arrival to Florida and helped him get to his new home with his girlfriend and her parents.

A week after his arrival, Santana – a boxer in Cuba – was taken to see the trainer Mandy “The Whiz” Fernandez.  “He started sparring with Angelo and discovered he had a great left hook,” Hernandez said.  “He started training him, and put some of his videos on YouTube.  Next thing, King calls to sign him up.”

Santana’s first fight was at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he opened for Roy Jones, Hernandez said.  Santana knocked his opponent out in the first round.

When Santana told King about CWS’s help, King reached out to the CWS Miami Office to invite staff to a November 2 news conference and to the November 5 match.

CWS’s Mabel Hernandez – a life-long boxing fan, as it turns out – fielded King’s call.  “If the telephone caller ID hadn’t said ‘Don King Productions,’ I would have thought it was a joke,” Hernandez said.  “It’s just been so exciting.  I’m excited for the amount of importance they have given our agency.”

At the November 2 news conference, King gave Hernandez the opportunity to describe CWS’s work.  She reported afterward that she had “thanked Mr. King for inviting us and including us.  It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t wanted us there.

“I introduced myself and spoke of CWS’s 65 years of disaster relief, CROP Hunger Walks, and assistance to immigrants and refugees.  And I said how thrilled we are that Angelo is doing all these wonderful things.  He came to this country searching for freedom and to be able to do what he loves.”

See also Cuban Boxer Set To Defend Boxing Championship Sat. on the CBS Miami website.