Vito Mielnicki Jr. will attempt to extend his winning streak to five when he returns to the ring on October 15 in Brooklyn.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the 20-year-old junior middleweight will face Limberth Ponce that night on the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius undercard at Barclays Center. FS1 is likely to televise the 10-round fight between Mielnicki and Ponce before the FOX Sports Pay-Per-View portion of the Wilder-Helenius preliminary card begins.
Mielnicki (12-1, 8 KOs) has won four fights in a row since Philly’s James Martin (then 6-2) defeated him by majority decision in an eight-round FS1 fight broadcast in April 2021 from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall. in Los Angeles. The Roseland, New Jersey native recently stopped veteran Jimmy Williams (18-9-2, 6 KOs) in the sixth round of eight rounds on the Danny Garcia-José Benavidez Jr. undercard on July 30 at Barclays Center. .
Mielnicki wanted to avenge his loss to Martin in an immediate rematch that was supposed to take place 13 months ago at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, Martin came in 4½ pounds over the contracted limit for what was supposed to be a welterweight bout, and Mielnicki stopped Noah Kidd (then 6-3-2) in the second round of a FOX-televised bout on July 2021.
Another young Premier Boxing Champions affiliated fighter, Joey Spencer, beat Martin by unanimous decision in an eight-round junior middleweight bout the night Martin was supposed to face Mielnicki again.
Ponce (19-5, 11 KOs), of Rock Island, Illinois, was knocked out in the fifth round by Spencer (16-0, 10 KOs) on December 25 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The 31-year-old Mexican veteran bounced back from his loss to Spencer by defeating Ramiro Hernandez (3-2, 1 KO) by unanimous decision in his most recent action, a six-rounder on May 6 in Davenport, Iowa.
Meanwhile, Wilder will fight for the first time in over a year when he takes on Finn Helenius. The former WBC heavyweight champion from Tuscaloosa, Alabama has not boxed since England’s Tyson Fury brutally knocked him out in the 11th round of their third title fight last October 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. .
Helenius (31-3, 20 KOs) has also not fought since Oct. 9. He stopped Brooklyn’s Adam Kownacki (20-3, 15 KO) in the sixth round of their rematch on the undercard as Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KO) fought Fury (32-0-1, 23 KO). for the third time. .
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
