LAS VEGAS – Corey Champion lost his second fight Saturday to a high school student in the past six weeks.
Vito Mielnicki Jr. dominated the game but overmatched Champion for four rounds in a welterweight fight on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mielnicki knocked down Champion late in the first round, rocked him with a right hand in the fourth round and won each round on all three judges’ scorecards.
Kermit Bayless (40-35), Chris Migliore (40-34) and Richard Ocasio (40-35) each scored it a shutout for Mielnicki, a 17-year-old senior at West Essex High School in North Caldwell, New Jersey.
Mielnicki, of Roseland, New Jersey, improved to 5-0 (3 KOs). Champion, of Louisa, Virginia, dropped to 1-3.
The 21-year-old Champion previously lost a lopsided, four-round unanimous decision to another 17-year-old prospect, Xander Zayas (3-0, 2 KOs), on January 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
On Saturday, Mielnicki drilled Champion with a right hand that knocked him backward just after the midway point of the fourth round. Mielnicki tried to finish off Champion, but his tough opponent made it to the final bell.
Mielnicki dropped Champion late in the first round.
A hard right by Mielnicki knocked Champion into the ropes with just over 10 seconds to go in that first round. The ropes kept Champion from falling to the canvas, but not for long.
A left-right combination by Mielnicki sent him to one knee while he was backed into a neutral corner. Champion beat Hoyle’s count and made it to the end of the opening round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.