VERONA, New York – They came out blasting in the six-round DAZN opener between light heavyweights Yair Gallardo and Michael Ruiz at Verona’s Turning Stone Resort Casino.
Gallardo (8-0, 7 KOs), of Mexico City, soon established control and dominated with big right hands that Ruiz (7-3, 5 KOs), from Puerto Rico, found hard to avoid. Near the end of the opener, Gallardo mixed in some left hooks and right uppercuts that jolted Ruiz’s head one way and then the other.
Ruiz was game and kept firing back, but an early finish seemed inevitable as he absorbed a succession of heavy shots in the second and referee Benjy Esteves made a timely intervention. Of course, a disconsolate Ruiz – bleeding from the nose – protested, but the result was looking beyond doubt. Time of the stoppage was 1:18 of the second.
In a six-rounder at welterweight, Bryce Mills, of Liverpool, New York, improved to 16-1 (5 KOs) with a hard-fought but well-earned decision win over Jose Marruffo (14-14-2, 2 KOs), of Phoenix. Mills won by margins of 60-54 (twice) and 59-55.
Mills tried to impress his army of fans in a fast-paced opener, working the body at times and getting behind his jab at others. But Marruffo was happy to engage, although he was caught coming forward by a couple of left hooks early on.
There was more solid action in the second, with Mills edging proceedings. The man from upstate New York broke through with a left hook that shook Marruffo to his boots in the third. It was a physical fight, with both landing. The tempo was unrelenting. Marruffo pounded forward, but Mills was still scoring and the Phoenix man slipped moments after a right hand in Round 4. They congratulated one another for landing solid shots near the bell to end the session.
They slugged away in the fifth, with neither giving ground. It was no surprise that the sixth and final round boasted more of the same to close out an engaging and hard-fought battle. Credit to both men for their courage, intensity and sportsmanship.
In the show opener, Sasha Tudor (1-0-1, 1 KO), of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, took just 70 seconds to stop Manuel Moreira (1-6), from Sheridan, Wyoming, in a junior middleweight contest set for four rounds.
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