Vito Mielnicki: Deprived Of Revenge, But Back On Track
Mielnicki Stops Late Replacement Noah Kidd In The Second
For Vito Mielnicki, tonight was supposed to be about making things right. In his last bout, just shy of his 19th birthday, Mielnicki suffered one of the biggest upsets of the year to Philadelphia’s James Martin. Vito’s team secured a rematch with Martin with the hope that an impressive win could largely erase the impression left by the surprise loss. Vito’s New Jersey fanbase turned out in full force in hopes of willing him to victory. The fight of the night was set. Martin unfortunately had other plans.
When it came time to weigh in yesterday, roughly 36 hours before fight time, James Martin hit the scale at 151.5 for a bout that had been contracted for the Welterweight limit of 147. With Martin unwilling and almost certainly unable to shed 4.5 lbs and Vito understandably uninterested in fighting a rematch at such a disadvantage, the bout was off. Martin was moved up to face Joey Spencer in a Super Welterweight bout and in came late replacement Noah Kidd to face Mielnicki.
When the bell rung for the 1st round, Vito appeared to turn what might have been frustration into aggression. He came out fast and strong against the awkward and overmatched Kidd much to the delight of the thousands of local supporters who turned up to cheer on ‘White Magic’.
Mielnicki scored one knockdown in the first, another in the second, and then finished things off with about 30 seconds left in that round. Overall it was dominant win, albeit against an overmatched opponent.
Vito’s career is still in its infancy and I’m sure he’s relieved to be back in the win column. It’s a shame for him that he didn’t get a chance at revenge, but he has a long time left in his career to put that loss in the rearview mirror. If he continues to win like he did tonight, that loss is going to become a distant memory.
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