The champion from Leicester was making the first defence of the belt he won last September against Frazer Morgan but came into the fight needing a statement win and to bounce back from a pair of defeats against Callum Singh and Matt McHale.
Michael from Northampton, who was previously unbeaten after eight straight wins since turning pro in 2022, was boxing over ten rounds for the first time and after a lively MC-styled entrance the two men were set to go in front of a heavily Michael favoured crowd.
The first couple of rounds were tight, with both exchanging punches up close as referee Chris Dean was allowing them to work in close without breaking up the action. Bruce was starting to look more comfortable as the fight progressed, boxing smartly from his southpaw stance, always looking to work the body before switching to the head, landing a pair of looping left hands which started to mark up the challenger's face.
Michael tried switching stances, and he caught Bruce with a hurtful shot to the ribs as the two threw flurries of punches in the 5th. At the midway stage the fight was neck and neck, but Bruce started to turn the screw as the rounds flew by at a fast pace. Cuts developed on Michael's face, and he was really having to dig deep as he took another sustained body attack from the fleet-footed champion.
Some of the punches had been borderline throughout, and Bruce was given a stern warning in the 9th to keep his punches up after a shot below the belt caused a break in the action as Michael was rightly allowed time to recover. Going into the final round, the Michael corner knew they needed a knockout, and backed by a sold-out crowd, he tried his best, but it was Bruce who looked more likely to end the fight inside the distance. A knockdown from another sharp shot dropped Michael right at the final bell, but he made it to his feet as the fight concluded.
Heavy hitting Ben Vaughan boxing back in his hometown after two tough losses on the road showed he still carries devastating power, stopping Alexyv Mikhail Arellano Leon in the opening round.
The southpaw was relentless from the opening bell, digging in hurtful body shots with his Mexican opponent looking troubled early. Despite Leon having only been stopped twice in twenty-two prior contests, his experience counted for little when Vaughan pinned him in the neutral corner with only moments left in the round. Vaughan unloaded a flurry of shots which folded the 21-year-old, who was unable to beat the count.
Klinton Baptiste picked up the best win of his young career but was pushed hard by Toby Bassett throughout their six rounds. Both came into the fight unbeaten, but it was the rangy Baptiste who was landing the cleaner shots early in the action. Bassett was a big step up in quality from previous opposition, and he started to make it more of a brawl, bloodying Baptiste's face. The normally well-coached pair seemed to abandon any game plan, putting on a crowd-pleasing scrap as they swung away down the stretch. It was the kind of fight that deserved to be for a title, but the fans had to settle for an all-action six rounds instead, with Baptiste getting the decision 58-56.
The confidence is back flowing through Eithan James as he picked up his second straight win, dropping the tough Eduardo Vera Sanchez en route to a shutout 60-53 points win. A quality operator, James is looking to get back in the title mix in early 2026, and he looked razor sharp against the experienced Mexican.
In the chief support slot, the popular Callum Latimer showed his class in a good-quality matchup with the active Josh Morris, who was boxing for the fourth time in six weeks. Latimer stuck behind his long jab, landing point scoring shots but had to show patience in looking for openings against the elusive Morris.
Referee Kevin Parker gave Morris a share of a round but it was Latimer who rightly got the decision, 40-37 moving to 3-0.
Opening the show, Charlie Hamilton kept his impressive unbeaten start to life in the paid ranks with a straightforward points win against one of the sport's most experienced fighters, Fonz Alexander, 40-36