Prudential Center—Belleville New Jersey’s Vito Mielnicki Jr. was back on the winning track Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, though not against the opponent he wanted to fight.
The 19-year-old Mielnicki knocked out Noah Kidd in the second round of a welterweight fight scheduled for eight rounds at the Rock. White Magic improved to 9-1 and got his sixth knockout before a raucous crowd that was mostly made up of friends, family, and fans awaiting to watch Mielnicki, who resides in nearby Roseland, New Jersey.
The fight didn’t sustain it’s momentum, but it was exciting while it lasted. You gotta give Noah Kidd (6-4-2, 5 KO), who came out throwing haymakers trying to connect, a lot of credit. Unfortunately, that style of boxing fed right into Mielnicki (9-1, 6 KO), who knocked Kidd on the seat of his pants in the first round to the pleasure of his home town fans. Mielnicki hurt him badly enough again later in the round that there was serious doubt if Kidd would weather the bout.
Kidd survived the second round barely, but he couldn’t get his legs under him. After a flagrant groin punch from Mielnicki brought things to a brief stoppage, Kidd again tried to pressure Vito with a barrages of punches. It did not work out as planned for Kidd, as White Magic punished Noah on the ropes, turning away and attempting to take a knee when the referee Dali determined Kidd shouldn’t continue.
“Kidd was fading fast,” said Mielnicki. “That’s why I started to pick up the pressure. He was starting to wilt. I learned in my past performance that when you have someone hurt you have to finish the job.”
Mielnicki was supposed to fight in a rematch against James Martin, but Martin missed weight. Kidd was originally scheduled to fight on the non-televised portion of the undercard, but filled in as Martin’s replacement against Mielnicki.
“There were no issues with the change of opponent,” added Mielnicki. “I trained for a more technical fighter. Kidd was more awkward than Martin. We got the job done in front of my hometown fans, so I’m happy.”
