On Friday night, Broadway Boxing went north to the suburbs of Westchester County with an eight-bout card, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook, NY.
Headlining the card, West Point graduate Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson, 153½, White Plains, NY, made his much-anticipated ring return against the always-game Mike Ruiz, 153¾, Glenbrook, NY, in a 10-round super welterweight contest. Ending a 15-month layoff that was spent healing from a right arm injury suffered in his previous bout and a subsequent torn rotator cuff incurred during training, Melson showed no ill effects outboxing Ruiz in an impressive showing.
Throughout, Melson displayed tremendous accuracy, focusing on his straighter punches, which were also aided by Ruiz’ lack of head movement. Beating Ruiz to the punch, Melson’s speed was causing his adversary problems, not letting him find a rhythm. Ruiz, who himself was coming off of a year-and-a-half layoff, tried to make it a rough fight in close, having his best moments in round four as the action intensified. Melson, however, kept pumping his jab to establish a distance as much as he could.
In the sixth, Melson floored Ruiz and continued to land his straight right well in the following frame. Maintaining control over the closing rounds, Melson went on to win a unanimous decision on scores of 100-89, 99-90, and 98-91, to improve to 14-1-1 (3 KOs). With the victory, Melson, who leads the “Fight To Walk” boxing team and donates almost his entire purse to the JustaDollarPlease organization, which specializes in stem cell research, picked up the WBC USNBC super welterweight title. Ruiz suffered his second loss in a row, dropping to 17-8 (9 KOs).
Popular heavyweight Alexander “Lights Out” Vanasse, 207¼, of Carmel, NY, engaged Raymond Santiago, 234¼, of Amsterdam, NY, in an entertaining brawl with a large, adoring fan base cheering him on. Landing the sharper punches, Vanasse jabbed to the body to set up his hooks upstairs. In round two, a barrage of shots forced the referee to halt the action at 2:58 of the stanza, feeling that Santiago was taking too much punishment. Vanasse improved to 2-0 (2 KOs), while Santiago’s ledger dipped to 1-6.
In a good-action scrap, Maxito “The Anvil” Sainvil, 146¾, Nyack, NY, was much too powerful and aggressive for his Brooklynite foe Anton Williamson. The shorter Sainvil bobbed and weaved his way inside Williamson’s reach, pounding away at the body with hooks from both hands. Applying pressure throughout, Sainvil focused on his uppercut and left hook as the bout progressed. On occasion, Williamson, 146½, was able to land countershots, though a left hook upstairs floored him in the third. After four frames, Sainvil won a unanimous decision on scores of 40-35 twice, and 38-37, to improve to 2-0 (1 KO), while Williamson fell to 1-3.
Southpaw Max Tassy, 169½, of Nyack, NY, was unable to overcome the awkward style of the tall, lanky and switch-hitting Ralph Johnson, 171¼, of Worcester, MA, during their four-round firefight. Overall, Johnson landed more punches, especially on the inside. One judge had the bout a 38-38 draw, but was overruled by two tallies of 39-37 in favor of Johnson, 2-5 (1 KO), awarding him the majority decision victory. Tassy is now 3-1 (1 KO).
Brooklyn’s WBA #7-ranked junior featherweight contender Rafael Vazquez, 122½, earned his seventh victory in a row outboxing Mexico City’s Pedro Melo, 122¾, for eight one-sided rounds. Vazquez’ entire arsenal was on display, mixing in shots to the body and head, particularly with his left hook. A straight right upstairs followed by a left hook to the midsection bent Melo over in obvious pain to end round two. A straight right-left hook combination dropped Melo in the third and a right cross put him down a second time in round five. Vazquez, now 14-1 (11 KOs), continued to be aggressive for the remainder of the fight, winning a unanimous shutout on three identical scores of 80-70. Melo’s record fell to 13-8-2 (4 KOs).
Former world title challenger and WBO European junior welterweight titlist Sergey Fedchenko, 140½, Kharkiv, Ukraine, dismantled the tenacious Renald Garrido, 139½, of Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France, over eight exciting rounds with technical boxing wizardry. Garrido pressured and came forward all night, throwing punches in bunches, though in wild fashion. However, Garrido missed his target often, as the elusive Fedchenko also proved adept at defensive footwork. Fedchenko effortlessly countered Garrido’s aggression with pinpoint straights, overhand shots and hooks. The judges tallied 77-75 twice, and 76-76, with Fedchenko the winner by way of majority decision. With both boxers making their US debut, Fedchenko improved to 34-3 (14 KOs), while Garrido fell to 14-10-1 (2 KOs).
Co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Maravilla Box Promotions, the superbly talented amateur prodigy Jonathan “Maravilla” Alonso, 141¼, is now 4-0 (3 KOs) as a pro after scoring a second-round TKO over the headstrong Jose Guzman, 138½, 5-10-1, Bronx, NY. With superior hand speed, Alonso quickly found a home for his overhand right, breaking through Guzman’s guard to tag him on the chin. The unbeaten prospect also wisely dug in shots to the body whenever Guzman applied pressure. Following two completed rounds, Guzman did not come out of his corner for the third stanza. Considered one of the best amateur boxers in Spain’s history, Alonso was born in Moca, Dominican Republic, but moved to Spain at just seven years old. He took up boxing as an amateur at the age of 16, compiling an 85-11 record, including having competed in the 2012 London Olympics. He won gold medals at the Campeonato de España Junior tournament in 2009, as well as at the Campeonato de España tournament in 2011 and 2012. Alonso also picked up silver at Spain’s Golden Gloves tournament and the Bosnian Tournament, both in 2011.
Montreal’s Francy Ntetu, 167½, who is co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, outboxed Milton Nunez, 167½, of Barranquilla, Colombia, over eight frames to win a dominant unanimous decision. Down the stretch, Ntetu’s crisp punches had stunning accuracy, as he repeatedly landed his overhand right and often adding in his left hook upstairs. Scorecards read 80-72, and 79-73 twice. Now 15-0 (3 KOs), Ntetu, a former Canadian amateur champion and veteran of 85 amateur contests, is on the verge of transitioning from prospect to contender. Nunez dropped to 28-14-1 (25 KOs).
