Chuckie “The Professor” Mussachio Takes Bobby Rooney to School in Atlantic City! By Ken Hissner at ringside (Nov 23, 2009) DoghouseBoxing
Diane Fischer of Dee Lee Promotions lost her main event Friday night, but had a strong enough 8 round co-feature that took over to the delight of the packed ballroom at Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City Saturday night! Chuckie “The Professor” Mussachio, 14-1-2 (5), of Wildwood was coming off his first career loss while his opponent Bayonne’s Bobby Rooney was on a 6 fight win streak. The Irish fans were on one side of the room supporting Rooney and the Italians and Mussachio’s former students on the other side. They were both very vocal in cheering on their favorites. It was like it used to be in boxing.
Rooney came out with a good jab and wide punch combinations to the body of Mussachio and it looked like it was going to be a long night for “The Professor”. In the 2nd round of this light heavyweight match Mussachio began his “art work” by painting his jab all over Rooney’s face. At times there were as many as 9 consecutive jabs without any return punches from Rooney. To the disappointment of his many fans, Rooney seemed bewildered. “I couldn’t believe the reach on this guy,” said Rooney. This writer told him “Mussachio ties his sneakers without bending over.”
In the 4th round Mussachio was bleeding a bit from the nose and Rooney was pawing at the outside of his left eye after absorbing jab after jab well placed there. At the end of the round Mussachio landed a hard right hand following a jab and rocked Rooney. The 5th round followed suit until near the end of the round when Rooney finally opened up and may have stole the round on several of the judge’s cards. Both fighters had small abrasions on the outside of their eye brows but nothing serious. It was Mussachio being urged by his father/trainer to keep boxing and not get into a slugging match with Rooney. Referee David Fields warned Mussachio several times during the fight for hitting behind the head and low blows. “I knew after the 1st round I had to outbox this guy,” said Mussachio. Judges Steve Weisfeld and Waleska Rolan scored it 77-75 while judge Alan Rubenstein had it 78-74 all for Mussachio. This writer and another next to me gave it to the winner 79-73.
John “No Mercy” Mackey, 11-4-2 (5), of Montgomery, AL, came in over the middleweight limit which is a little heavy for him as he opposed local favorite Patrick “LaSalsa” Perez, 25-7 (14), of Atlantic City, in a 6 round bout. Perez seemed to take the 1st round using straight rights against the southpaw, Mackey. In the 2nd round Mackey seemed to rebound landing upper cuts and rocking Perez with a combination. In the 3rd round a clash of heads resulted in a nasty and very deep gash over the right eye brow of Perez causing the referee David Franciosi to call in the ringside physician who called a halt to the match. The decision was a “no contest’ due to the fact the fight hadn’t gone 4 rounds. Time of stoppage was 2:57 of the 3rd round. A rematch is being proposed by the promoter.
In what turned out to be not only the fight of the night but one of the best fights seen in this area in some time put on by two New York female boxers. Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano, 4-0-1 (3), of Brooklyn, and Ela “Bam Bam” Nunez, 9-5-1 (2), of Rochester, went toe to toe for the entire 4 rounds. The southpaw, Serrano, came out with the confidence to make it a short night for Nunez, until she ran into a straight right hand that drove her into the lower strand of the ropes for a knockdown. Southpaw Serrano seemed very upset this happened and got back into the heat of the battle dropping Nunez with a right hook. The fans were on their feet cheering both combatants.
Serrano seemed to have a slight edge in the 1st round. In the 2nd round they seemed to fight on even terms with neither fighter slipping any punches. The heavier Nunez, a lightweight, to super featherweight Serrano, used her experience and rocked Serrano in taking the 3rd round. In the 4th round as Nunez seemed to be winding down, Serrano was looking to keep her record spotless by continuing to throw bombs taking the round. Referee Alan Huggins allowed the fighters to let it all hang out without any interference. The fan’s including this writer were on their feet applauding these two fighters. You had to be there to witness this slugfest to appreciate it. The judge’s were mixed in their voting. Rubenstein had it 39-37 Serrano while Weisfeld had it the same but for Nunez. The final vote from Roland was 38-38 a draw. This writer had Serrano the winner 39-38. Expect a rematch.
Michael “Mighty Mike” Tiberi, 11-1 (5), of Townsend, DE, was quite surprised when the fight started against John “The Rooster” Wright, 4-1 (1), of Cameron, WV. “I didn’t know he was a southpaw,” said Tiberi. His uncle, Nick Tiberi, the matchmaker forgot to tell him. Tiberi landed quite a few left hooks to the ribcage of Wright who went into survival mode the last part of the fight to go the full 6 rounds, between middleweights. “I opened up in the last two rounds but he has a good chin,” said Tiberi. All the judges, John Stewart, Hilton Whitaker and Eugenia Williams scored it 60-54 for Tiberi. The referee was Franciosi.
The first 3 of 4 fights were very one sided. All 3 local middleweights won via the short distance. Gabriel “Gabby” Pham, 2-0 (2), of Pleasantville, used his southpaw style to advantage in stopping ever trying Rodelle Bolar, 0-2, of Akron at 2:48 of the 3rd round. A right hook caused the first knockdown and a right uppercut the second one. Bolar had a bad mouse under his right eye, as referee Fields halted it. Light heavyweight Bolar held a 5 pound advantage that wasn’t muscle
Eugenio “Clockwork” Soto, 2-0 (1), of Atlantic City, won in a laugher over Anthony Dewey, 0-3, at 1:12 of the 1st round. The beginning of this mismatch started with a left hook to the head that caused the out of shape Dewey to grab his opponent around the waist and force him to the ropes. A left hook to the body dropped Dewey who was looking for a way out when the referee Huggins put an end to it as Dewey was on one knee. It would be a word to the wise to pull Dewey’s license before he gets hurt.
Joel DeLaPaz, 4-0 (3), of Atlantic City, had a 5 pound edge in weight, but it would not have mattered as two separate left hooks dropped Bruce Runkle, 1-1-1 (0), of Wheeling, WV. He gamely got to his feet but was in no condition or had any reason to continue as the referee Fields put a stop to it at 1:15 of the 1st round. DeLaPaz, Soto and Pham need better competition to improve.
In spite of the 3 early stoppages the fans had plenty to cheer for in the last 3 fights. It was an entertaining card, especially considering the main event of Camden’s Prince Badi Ajamu coming in 10 pounds overweight causing his bout with Brooklyn’s Daniel Judah to be scratched. It’s the third time a Dee Lee Promotions has run into this in this writer’s memory, but wasn’t missed as expected it might be.
