Vito Mielnicki Jr Whitewashes Kamil Gardzielik Before the Home Folks in Newark

Promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank) collaborated with promoters Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna and Vito Mielnicki Sr to present a card at the Prudential Center in Newark tonight that aired on ESPN+. The card, which had a club fight flavor from the anthem singers to the ring announcer to the ring card girls (no disrespect to the excellent work of James “Smitty” Smith), featured Mielnicki’s son in the main event.

New Jersey’s Vito (“White Magic”) Mielnicki Jr, who has matured from a bright welterweight prospect into a fringe middleweight contender, was returning to the venue where he had launched his pro debut in 2019 at age 17. He was a 25/1 favorite, over Kamil Gardzielik, an undefeated (19-0) but feather-fisted Pole making his U.S. debut.

Mielnicki was unbeaten in his last 13, but coming off a draw with Conor Coyle (a match that most everyone thought that Vito won). He had little trouble with Gardzielik. With the noted trainer Ronnie Shields in his corner, he worked effectively off his jab, winning every round. The only memorable moment came in round three when he decked the Pole with a short right hand. The scores were 100-89 across the board.

Semi-wind-Up

In what shaped up as the most competitive match on the card, Deer Park, Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker (15-1-1) won a unanimous 10-round decision over Baltimore’s Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson (15-3). The judges had it 96-94 and 97-93 twice.

Simpson landed the harder punches in several of the rounds but Tucker, who had the faster hands and was busier, repeatedly beat him to the punch. Tucker doesn’t have a big punch, but at age 22 is making good headway. Heading in, he was coming off the best win of his career, a wide 10-round decision over England’s Troy Williamson. Simpson, who is managed by Vito Mielnicki Sr, had Gervonta Davis’s mentor Calvin Ford in his corner.

Other Bouts of Note

In an all-Polish heavyweight affair, New Jersey-based Damian Knyba dominated stubborn Marcin Siwy who suffered a bad gash under his left eye in the sixth frame and was pulled out by the ring physician after round eight. The six-foot-seven Knyba is now 16-0 (10 KOs), but he isn’t the next great heavyweight from Eastern Europe. He doesn’t have fast hands and there is no snap in his punches.

Siwy, who last fought in September of 2011, brought a 25-0-1 record but was coming off a draw in a 6-round contest against an opponent who currently sports an 11-28-3 record. He is listed at 34 and six-foot-one, but looked older and shorter. (Knyba was originally slated to face Norman Neely who remained on the card, matched against pudgy James Willis who Neely stopped in the opening round.)

In an 8-rounder contested at the catch-weight of 143 pounds, Brandun Lee returned to the ring after an 11-month absence and pitched a shutout over 38-year-old Fresno-based Argentine Elias Damian Araujo. Araujo (22-6) fought a survivor’s fight, jitterbugging around the ring until absorbing a punch to the cup that compromised his mobility.

Lee, who is of Korean and Mexican descent, improved to 30-0 (23). He attracted a lot of buzz early in his career, winning 20 of his first 22 fights by knockout, 12 in the opening round. During his hiatus, he finished his college degree in criminal justice at Cal State San Bernardino and joined Robert Garcia’s boxing academy.

Paterson, New Jersey junior middleweight Dwyke Flemmings Jr advanced to 11-0 (10 KOs) with a first-round stoppage of 36-year-old Argentine slug Demian Fernandez (15-8). Flemmings, who came out blazing, scored three knockdowns with liver shots before referee Harvey Dock halted the carnage. Fernandez, who has fought the likes of Boots Ennis and Brian Norman Jr, was stopped for the seventh time.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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