Middleweight Madness: Vito Mielnicki Jr. and Jahi Tucker Win in Newark

In two fights with implications in the middleweight division, Top Rank’s contender Vito Mielnicki Jr. and Jahi Tucker emerged with wins Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Mielnicki Jr. Drills, Dominates Gardzielik

Vito Mielnicki Jr. said he was pleased with his ability to stick to the game plan. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

In the main event, hometown favorite Mielnicki Jr. (21-1-1, 12 KOs) scored an early knockdown in the second round, going on to turn in the composed performance he needed over the outgunned Kamil Gardzielik of Poland (19-1, 4 KOs). It was a shutout, unanimous decision on all three cards, 100-89.

Mielnicki Jr. wasn’t terribly disappointed he couldn’t end the evening earlier. “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.”

As Gardzielik switched to a southpaw stance, Mielnicki Jr. caught him with a hard right hand and dropped the Polish fighter. When Gardzielik made it out of the round,

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 he and trainer Ronnie Shields enjoyed the best training camp of his career.

“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,” explained Mielnicki Jr. The New Jersey native called his first main event something he always hoped for. “I feel blessed. As a kid, I dreamed of fighting here in the main event.”

Jahi Tucker Shuts Down Lorenzo Simpson in Grudge Match

Jahi Tucker got the best of Lorenzo Simpson in their grudge match. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

Jahi Tucker of Deer Park, New York (15-1-1, 6 KOs) had plenty of fans in the seats cheering him on as he settled his beef with Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson of Baltimore (15-3, 9 KOs) with a ten round points unanimous decision by scores of 96-94 and 97-93 twice.

Tucker and Simpson traded trash talk leading up to the fight, a crossroads contest that would determine whose career would move forward. It was Tucker, who went straight at Simpson at the opening bell.

Simpson got off to a good start with left uppercuts to the body and straight lefts to the head. Tucker’s approach ultimately proved to be steady pressure, and his consistent power punching kept him even with Simpson.

In the middle rounds, Tucker turned up the pressure, landing combinations while weathering Simpson’s returning fire. Tucker decided he would do better to box a bit more in the sixth and seventh rounds. He then turned up the heat again with right hands and uppercuts. Tucker loves a good uppercut. It made for a fun fight to watch.

Jahi Tucker seemed to thoroughly enjoy his fight on Saturday. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

“The difference was that I really wanted it more,” said the Tokyo 2020 Team USA Olympian. “He’s a hell of a fighter, but it was crunch time for me. You know how it is.

Tucker said there wasn’t really any personal bad blood, and all is well between him and Simpson. “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.”

Top Rank will likely match Mielnicki Jr. and Tucker in a sink-or-swim effort.

Undercard Results: Damian Knyba, Brandun Lee Get Victories

Damian Knyba is an imposing figure in the ring with an 86-inch reach. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

Undefeated Polish heavyweight Damian Knyba (16-0, 10 KOs) scored an eighth-round stoppage over countryman Marcin Siwy (25-1-1, 12 KOs) in an all-Polish showdown.

Knyba, a six-foot-seven super heavyweight with the longest reach in boxing and a six-inch height advantage over Siwy, kept Siwy at range as the smaller man tried to crowd his way inside. Knyba overcame the clinching by the fifth round, landing body shots and right hands, drawing blood on Siwy, who started wearing down.

Damian Knyba plays a game of chess with trainer Shaun George before his fight. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

Siwy was unable to continue after the eighth round, giving Knyba the TKO win.

It’s good to see talented junior welterweight Brandum Lee return to the ring. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

After 11 months out of the ring, junior welterweight contender Brandun Lee of Irvine, California (30-0, 23 KOs) shook off the ring rust with a dominating eight-round decision over Elias Araujo of Argentina (22-6, 9 KOs). All three cards were 80-72.

Additional Results

Junior Middleweights: Dwyke Flemmings Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) wins by first-round TKO over Demian Fernandez (15-7, 5 KOs). Time of the stoppage was 2:09.

Junior Featherweights: Lisandra Contreras (1-0) won her pro debut in four rounds by decision over Montana Weems (1-1, 1 KO).  Scores: 40-35 on all three cards.

Heavyweights: Norman Neely (16-1, 11 KOs) stopped James Willis (6-2-1, 5 KOs) at 2:08 of round one.

Welterweights: Muadh Abdus-Salaam (1-0) won his pro debut with a majority decision in four rounds over Roberto Cantos (1-4). Scores: 38-38, 39-37, and 40-36.

Junior Middleweights: Kahshad Elliot (5-0, 4 KOs) wins a decision over Titus Ashe (1-1, 1 KO). Scores: 38-35 and 38-36 2x.

Heavyweights: Jamar Talley (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Kurt Fleming (3-1, 2 KOs) at 1:08 of the second round.

Light Heavyweights: Arjan Iseni (4-0, 4 KOs) also stopped Kaine Tomlinson Jr. (1-1, 1 KO) in two rounds.