Vito Mielnicki Jr closed his 2021 in the ring with a win at home in New Jersey, stopping Nicholas DeLomba in the 10th and final round of tonight’s PBC on FOX main event from Newark.
Mielnicki (10-1, 7 KO) dominated the fight with DeLomba (16-4, 5 KO) for the most part, which wasn’t unexpected or anything. The 19-year-old welterweight prospect is a favorite of the PBC brand, which is pretty easy to see at this point, and Mielnicki also looked very sharp tonight, though still with plenty of room for improvement, like getting his left hand involved more and perhaps throwing more combinations.
But DeLomba, 31, did about what was expected of him, too, as he gave Mielnicki rounds, not going away, even though Mielnicki did pour on some early pressure. There was some concern that Mielnicki’s exuberance in those early rounds might bite him a bit, but he settled in and boxed nicely, taking the fight as it came.
The stoppage came from DeLomba’s corner at 1:49 of the 10th round.
- Rajon Chance SD-6 Elon de Jesus: A rough, competitive fight, two cards came back for Chance (58-56 and 59-55), one for de Jesus (58-56). Chance (6-0-1, 5 KO) and de Jesus (3-1-1, 2 KO) had fought to a majority draw in six rounds back in September in Bakersfield, Calif., going cross country from there for the rematch. You probably could have scored this even again. It was rough and chippy at times, Chance had a clear hand speed advantage but wasn’t always able to make that the story of the fight.
- Yoelvis Gomez TKO-1 Clay Collard: Overwhelming offense here from the Cuban Gomez (5-0, 5 KO), who was making his U.S. debut after turning pro in Guatemala in 2019 and three fights in Mexico in 2020-21. Gomez, 24, is a 154/160 guy and this was impressive enough against Collard (9-6-3, 4 KO), and while this was Clay’s fourth straight loss since his brief moment in boxing sun, this is the first of those by stoppage, and only Bektemir Melikuziev had stopped Collard before.
- Joey Spencer KO-5 Limberth Ponce: Another fine result for Spencer (14-0, 10 KO), the 21-year-old 154/160 prospect originally from Michigan, but once again something of a mirage. Ponce’s 18-5 (11 KO) record looks like a “step up,” but Ponce is 18-0 in Iowa and Kansas, 0-5 elsewhere. Iowa and Kansas are record-padding locales.Ponce didn’t really have anything to offer Spencer in terms of resistance, and the prospect finished it nicely with a good-looking fifth round knockout, but he’s been an extremely carefully managed TV prospect and the jury is still out on his real upside or ceiling.
- Kenneth Sims Jr UD-8 Keeshawn Williams: A clear win for Sims (17-2-1, 5 KO), which was to be expected, really. The 28-year-old “Bossman” from Chicago is a solid fighter, has been a bit inconsistent and at times maybe a bit unlucky, but he’s looking to be in a nice little career groove at the moment, and he had way too much for Williams (8-1-1, 2 KO). Sims can fight at 140 or 147 — he did 147 tonight but has generally been 140 — and probably isn’t about to become a serious top-tier contender, but he is definitely dangerous at a certain level, as Elvis Rodriguez learned earlier this year. Brian Kenny’s commentary may have oversold you a bit on Sims, but that is what Kenny does.
- Travon Marshall TKO-4 Brian Jones: This was a totally dominant performance for Marshall (4-0, 3 KO), with absurdly one-sided punch stats, leading to Harvey Dock stepping in to stop it in the fourth and final round, and quite understandably. Jones (15-13, 9 KO) gave the effort he could and was tough, as he usually is, but this was never close, and Jones knew it, not arguing with the stoppage at all. Marshall, originally from Maryland, really looks like a young fighter to watch at 147/154, standing six feet tall with a 71-inch reach he already is showing he knows he has and how to use it, setting things up nicely here. None of his work was rushed or forced or sloppy, all of it was measured. I said it in the live comments and I’ll say it again here: Travon Marshall was the best prospect on this show, and it’s not a close call. Put him on your radar going into 2022.
- Michael Anderson KO-3 Noe Lopez: A local guy opener, as the 41-year-old Anderson goes to 22-3-1 (16 KO) with a nice third round knockout of the 35-year-old Lopez, who falls to 10-5-1 (4 KO) in this welterweight bout. Anderson was probably winning the first two rounds, though certainly not by any great margin, and then he came out and blasted Lopez with a right hand to open the third round with an immediate knockdown. When Lopez got back up, Anderson went to his left hand, which he hadn’t used much at all, hurting Lopez with a hook to the liver and then following up with a hook up top, putting his opponent down for the 10 count.