After back-to-back disappointing outings, Vito Mielnicki Jnr finally had a performance to feel good about. The 23-year-old from Roseland, New Jersey showed he could box as well as connect with power as he dropped and shut out Kamil Gardzielik over 10 rounds on Saturday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
In a sport where they say that you’re only as good as your past fight, Mielnicki, 21-1-1 (12 KOs), created some distance from his draw in February against Connor Coyleand his sluggish majority decision win over Khalil El Harraz the previous September by beating a previously unbeaten fighter via unanimous scores of 100-89.
Instead of chasing the knockout after dropping Gardzielik, 19-1 (4 KOs), with a pair of straight right hands, Mielnicki had remained in his boxing posture, piling up points to preserve the dominant win.
Top Rank’s Carl Moretti told BoxingScene that Mielnicki will be back in the ring in October. The fight was the first for Mielnicki at Prudential Center since his off-TV bout there in 2023, when he knocked out Salim Larbi in one round. He is by far the biggest draw in New Jersey, and turned pro at that venue in 2019.
“I was happy with my performance,” he said, post-fight on Saturday. “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.”