NEWARK, N.J. (June 21, 2025)Ā āĀ Middleweight contenderĀ Vito Mielnicki Jr.Ā returned to his home state for another night in the spotlight.
The 23-year-old defeated Poland’sĀ Kamil GardzielikĀ via 10-round unanimous decision (100-89 3x) Saturday evening at Newark’s Prudential Center.
Mielnicki (21-1-1, 12 KOs) delivered a composed performance despite early success. In the second round, he floored Gardzielik (19-1, 4 KOs) with a right hand after the latter briefly switched to southpaw.
Rather than chase the finish, Mielnicki boxed patiently behind a long jab, mixing in right hands with left uppercuts down the middle and hooks around the elbows. The right hand continued to play an important role down the stretch, though he was unable to hurt him as he had earlier.
Mielnicki said, “I was happy with my performance. 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.”
Tucker Shuts Down Simpson in Grudge Match
Jahi TuckerĀ (15-1-1, 6 KOs) settled his beef withĀ LorenzoĀ SimpsonĀ (15-3, 9 KOs) with aĀ 10-round points victory (96-94 and 97-93 2x) after weeks of online back-and-forth.
The bad blood carried into the ring, as both wasted no time trading at close range. Simpson succeeded with left uppercuts to the body and straight lefts to the head, but Tucker landed more consistent power shots.
In rounds four and five, Tucker turned up the pressure, walking Simpson down and unloading combinations while ignoring return fire that connected often. By the sixth and seventh, Tucker changed tactics, boxing from the outside and connecting with right hands and left uppercuts before moving again.
He continued switching styles down the stretch, outpointing a game Simpson in the exchanges.
Tucker said, “The difference was that I really wanted it more. 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.”
Knyba Overwhelms Siwy
Undefeated heavyweightĀ Damian KnybaĀ (16-0, 10 KOs) scored an eighth-round stoppage overĀ Marcin SiwyĀ (25-1-1, 12 KOs) in an all-Polish showdown.
Knyba, a six-foot-seven behemoth with a six-inch height advantage, used an extended lead hand to keep Siwy at range while the shorter man lunged forward headfirst, looking to work on the inside.
The early rounds were filled with clinches, but Knyba found his rhythm in the fifth and sixth, digging to the body and landing around the guard.
By the seventh and eighth, he easily landed the right on a bloodied Siwy, who offered less and less in return. Siwy made it back to his corner after the eighth but was ruled unable to continue.
InĀ undercard results:
Junior Welterweight: Brandun LeeĀ (30-0, 23 KOs) UD 8Ā Elias AraujoĀ (22-6, 9 KOs), Scores: 80-72 3x.
Junior Middleweight: Dwyke Flemmings Jr.Ā (11-0, 10 KOs) TKO 1Ā Demian FernandezĀ (15-7, 5 KOs). Time: 2:09.
Junior Featherweight: Lisandra ContrerasĀ (1-0) UD 4Ā Montana WeemsĀ (1-1, 1 KO), Scores:Ā 40-35 3x.
Heavyweight: Norman NeelyĀ (16-1, 11 KOs) TKO 1Ā James WillisĀ (6-2-1, 5 KOs), Time: 2:08.
Welterweight: Muadh Abdus-SalaamĀ (1-0) MD 4Ā Roberto CantosĀ (1-4), Scores:Ā 38-38, 39-37, and 40-36.
Junior Middleweight:Ā Kahshad ElliotĀ (5-0, 4 KOs) UD 4Ā Titus AsheĀ (1-1, 1 KO), Scores:Ā 38-35 and 38-36 2x.
Heavyweight: Jamar TalleyĀ (3-0, 3 KOs) TKO 2Ā Kurt FlemingĀ (3-1, 2 KOs). Time: 1:08.
Light Heavyweight: Arjan IseniĀ (4-0, 4 KOs) TKO 2Ā Kaine Tomlinson Jr.Ā (1-1, 1 KO). Time: 1:03.
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