Vito Mielnicki Jr. emerged victorious on June 21, when he faced Kamil Gardzielik at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The home-state favorite claimed the win, defeating his opponent from Poland by unanimous decision.
After 10 rounds at middleweight all three judges scored the fight 100-89. In the third round, Mielnicki (21-1-1, 12 KOs) of Belleville, NJ, registered a knockdown with a right hand after Gardzielik (19-1, 4 KOs) switched to southpaw.
“I was happy with my performance,” Mielnicki said after the fight. “This came from working on sticking to the game plan and not getting out of my game plan when I hurt somebody. I felt we did a good job with that.”
“I wanted to use a hard, stiff jab. I felt that we did that really well. I welted up his face early. We set up that double right hand that we worked on in camp.”
“I feel blessed. As a kid, I dreamed of fighting here in the main event.”
Jahi Tucker defeats Lorenzo Simpson in co-feature
In the co-feature, Jahi Tucker (15-1-1, 6 KOs) of Queens, NY defeated former sparring partner Lorenzo Simpson (15-3, 9 KOs) of Baltimore, MD by unanimous decision. The judges scored the 10-round middleweight fight 97-93, 96-94, and 97-93.
“The difference was that I really wanted it more,” Tucker said. “He’s a hell of a fighter, but it was crunch time for me. You know how it is.”
“There was no real bad blood. We’re just two solid competitors. We’re two guys trying to feed our families. Of course, when you want that spot, you come to fight. He came to fight, so I had to dig deep.”
On Mielnicki vs Gardzielik undercard
Among other Mielnicki vs Gardzielik results, Damian Knyba (16-0, 10 KOs) defeated Marcin Siwy (25-1-1, 12 KOs) via RTD. The all-Polish heavyweight bout ended after the eighth round, as Siwy was deemed unable to continue.
Brandun Lee (30-0, 23 KOs) defeated Elias Araujo (22-6, 9 KOs) by unanimous decision at super lightweight, with all three judges scoring it 80-72. Dwyke Flemmings Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) stopped Demian Fernandez (15-7, 5 KOs) at 2:09 into the first round in their super welterweight bout.
In her pro debut, Lisandra Contreras (1-0) scored a unanimous decision over Montana Weems (1-1, 1 KO) in a four-rounder at super bantamweight, with all three judges scoring it 40-35. Norman Neely (16-1, 11 KOs) TKO’d James Willis (6-2-1, 5 KOs) at 2:08 into the opening round at heavyweight.
Making his pro debut, Muadh Abdus-Salaam (1-0) took a majority decision over Roberto Cantos (1-4) at welterweight, with scores of 38-38, 39-37, and 40-36. Kahshad Elliot (5-0, 4 KOs) earned a unanimous decision against Titus Ashe (1-1, 1 KO) at super welterweight, with judges scoring it 38-35, 38-36, 38-36.
Jamar Talley (3-0, 3 KOs) TKO’d Kurt Fleming (3-1, 2 KOs) at 1:08 into the second round at heavyweight. Plus, Arjan Iseni (4-0, 4 KOs) defeated Kaine Tomlinson Jr. (1-1, 1 KO) via TKO at 1:03 into the second round at light heavyweight.