By E.A. Sirota (ringside)
When Ghanaian born Ayi Bruce left Atlantic City last July, having just lost a hard-fought eight round majority decision to Star Boxing prospect Raymond Serrano, he was surely disappointed. Even though it went better than his first fight in the U.S. (3rd round TKO by Emmanuel Taylor), he didn't have enough to upset the house fighter Serrano.
Since that fight, which was on the Tua vs. Barrett undercard at Tropicana, Bruce picked up two wins over opponents with a combined record of 22-48-4. Star Boxing must have thought they had a known commodity when they matched Bruce with Alvarez in the main event of Saturday's card.
Alvarez, a southpaw, came out looking for a first round knockout and actually caught Bruce with a few flush shots. After that initial onslaught, Bruce settled in and rounds two, three and four were back and forth. Bruce started breaking down Alvarez in the fifth, stepping outside Alvarez's lead foot and landing a powerful right.
“Don't just make this a good fight, you gotta fight to win!” urged Bruce's trainer Andy Schott going into the sixth. That seemed to resonate with Bruce as he snapped Alvarez's head back with several counter right hands, easily winning rounds six though eight.
Round nine was even more decisive, as Alvarez's knee came within inches of touching the canvas after being rocked by another right hand. Going into the tenth Alvarez seemed to sense he was down on the cards, and the fight was close enough that Bruce couldn't sit back, especially being on the road. This resulted in both men going for the knockout, trading hard shots until the final bell.
Bruce earned the majority decision, with by scores of 97-93and 95-94, while the third judge had it even at 95-95. With the win Bruce improves to 18-3, 12 KO and picks up the vacant IBA title.
Previously mentioned Philadelphia welterweight Raymond “Tito” Serrano (14-0, 8 KO) easily knocked out Geoffery Spruiell in five rounds. Spruiell (8-10, 2 KO) got up off the canvas in the first but was ultimately outclassed and over matched as he took a steady mix of head and body shots before quitting on one knee with 27 seconds left in the fifth.
Fan favorite and Wildwood native Chuck “The Professor” Mussachio, pleased his many supporters in attendance, battering tough Floridian Theo Kruger over eight rounds. Even though he gave up roughly twenty pounds to Kruger when they stepped into the ring, Mussachio pushed the bigger man around the ring and even found time for a little showboating. In the end, Mussachio (17-1-2, 5 KO) lost only one round on one judge's scorecard.
Atlantic City resident Althea “Lady Thunder” Saunders improved to 2-0 beating Natoya Ervin in four rounds. Althea later traded her trunks for a dress and preformed a beautiful rendition of the national anthem prior to the main event.
Isaiah Seldon, also of Atlantic City, beat Todd “Viking” Eriksson of Dover, NJ in a four round middle weight match. Seldon Improves to 3-0 1 KO, while Eriksson drops to 2-5-1, 1 KO.
In other bouts Millville's Ismael Garcia(3-0, 1 KO) and Philadelphia's Rashad Brown(2-0) decisioned Joe Yerdon(0-1-2) of Berlin, NY and Corey Preston(0-3) of Cincinnati over four rounds respectively.
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