By Keith Idec

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Jeremy Bryan has arrived here hell-bent on atoning tonight for what occurred April 17 at Boardwalk Hall.

The talented junior welterweight prospect from Paterson, N.J., is scheduled to face undefeated Philadelphia prospect Ronald Cruz in an eight-round bout at Bally’s Events Center. The non-televised encounter will be Bryan’s second fight since a controversial eighth-round knockout defeat to Vincent Arroyo on the Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez undercard 6½ months ago, a setback Bryan is eager to prove was an aberration.

“Ronald Cruz is undefeated, but I’m not worried about that,” Bryan, 24, said. “He’s got a good record and he’s a tough guy. But he’s in the way of me getting to where I want to go, so I just have to go beat him and go forward from there.”

Cruz (9-0, 6 KOs), also 24, has feasted mostly on inferior foes since making his pro debut 21 months ago. Bryan (14-1, 7 KOs) also beat mostly overmatched opponents prior to boxing Arroyo, whom Bryan had handled pretty easily through the first seven rounds of their scheduled eight-round fight.

The two-time national Golden Gloves champion completely out-boxed Arroyo and each of the three scorecards reflected Bryan’s masterful performance against a heavy-handed opponent. He had lost just one round on one of the three judges’ scorecards that night and was ahead 70-63, 70-63 and 69-64, with three minutes to go in the fight.

Bryan got careless in the eighth round, though, and Arroyo hurt him near the center of the ring, which backed Bryan up near the ropes. Arroyo stung Bryan again as Bryan was attempting to take a knee, which would’ve resulted in a point deduction Bryan knew he could afford because he had such a large lead on the cards.

Arroyo unintentionally leveled Bryan with a left hook after Bryan’s left knee touched the canvas, but referee Samuel Viruet wasn’t in position to see the foul clearly. Worse yet, Viruet strangely stated after the fight that had he witnessed Arroyo’s illegal punch he wouldn’t have disqualified him because he wouldn’t have believed Arroyo acted maliciously, as if intent is matters when an illegal blow alters the outcome of a fight.

Regardless, Bryan couldn’t continue once Arroyo’s punishing punch left him flat on his back. Sal Alessi and Pat Lynch, Bryan’s co-managers, promptly filed a protest with New Jersey’s State Athletic Control Board, but commissioner Aaron Davis declined to change Bryan’s eighth-round knockout loss to a no-contest or a disqualification win for Bryan because the video provided for the protest came from HBO’s international telecast and was shot from an angle that didn’t show Bryan’s left knee touching the canvas when Arroyo committed the aforementioned foul.

“I just had to accept what the commissioner ruled and hope that I get to see him again at some point,” Bryan said. “I want to fight him again, but his people want too much money for a rematch now. I hope it’s something that happens down the road, though.”

For now, Bryan is concentrating on becoming more aggressive in the ring.

A genuinely nice, respectful person outside the ring, his handlers have encouraged Bryan to develop the mean streak inside it required to transform his potential into production on fight nights. They’re certain Bryan should’ve stopped Arroyo before Arroyo staged a comeback in the final round of their fight.

“Jeremy is a beast,” said Mike Skowronski, Bryan’s head trainer and a former assistant trainer for late legend Arturo Gatti. “I told Jeremy, ‘I love who you are when you’re not in the ring. I love the way you are as person.’ But I also told him, ‘You have to flip that switch when you go in that ring. There’s millions of dollars between those ropes for you to go earn. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. You’re the most talented kid in this gym. Go take what’s yours. Don’t let anybody take that from you.’ ”

The gym to which Skowronski referred is the Passaic PAL, a hotbed for boxing in New Jersey. Several of Bryan’s gymmates — including featherweight Jorge Diaz (14-0, 9 KOs), junior welterweight Jose Peralta (3-1, 2 KOs) and junior middleweight Glen Tapia (7-0, 5 KOs) — are also scheduled to fight tonight on a seven-bout card constructed by Union City, N.J.-based Pound-For-Pound Promotions.

Diaz, of New Brunswick, N.J., is set to encounter native New Yorker Emmanuel Lucero (24-5-1, 14 KOs) in the 10-round main event. Tapia, a Passaic, N.J., native who served as Manny Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner in the Philippines for a month recently, will compete in a six-rounder against San Antonio’s Quinton Whitaker (7-7, 5 KOs). And Peralta, of Clifton, N.J., will square off with former New York Golden Gloves champ Christian Martinez (4-0, 4 KOs) in a very intriguing six-round bout.

“The loss isn’t the only thing that’s motivating Jeremy,” Skowronski said. “He doesn’t want to get lost in the shuffle. When you’ve got Jorge Diaz and Glen Tapia and ‘Mangu’ [Peralta] all doing their thing, you don’t want to get buried. But Jeremy is still the most talented kid in our gym.”

Still, Skowronski, Alessi and Lynch are seeking the fighter that regularly holds his own in sparring sessions against former WBO junior welterweight champ Kendall Holt, former IBF junior welterweight champ Paulie Malignaggi and other gifted fighters to emerge beneath the brighter lights on fight night.

“This is a big fight for Jeremy,” Alessi said. “Cruz is a real guy and this fight will determine where Jeremy’s career is going. We’re looking forward to him taking advantage of the opportunity.”

Bryan wasn’t really allowed to take advantage of his first opportunity after Arroyo beat him.

Pittsburgh’s Danny Mitchell essentially quit between the first and second rounds of their scheduled six-round fight Aug. 21 at Prudential Center in Newark. The State Athletic Control Board dismissed Mitchell’s claim that he couldn’t see out of his left eye, returned his $3,000 purse to promoter Main Events and suspended Mitchell (5-2-1, 2 KOs) for a year.

“Coming off his loss,” Lynch said, “which was a tough one for all of us to digest, we wanted him to get some rounds and go out there and show everybody everything. And [Mitchell] quit on him. We thought we put him in with a durable opponent, a guy who was going to give him a test. We got nothing out of it.”

They hope they don’t walk away from tonight feeling the same way.  

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.