Vito Mielnicki Jr headlines Christmas night PBC on FOX show

Welterweight prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr will headline a Christmas night Premier Boxing Champions event on FOX, as he faces Nicholas DeLomba from Newark, N.J.

This event makes for back-to-back weekends with PBC on FOX shows to close the year. David Morrell Jr will face Alantez Fox in a Dec. 18 main event on the network.

Mielnicki, who is now 19 years old, is a New Jersey native who suffered an upset loss this past April, dropping a decision to James Martin in Los Angeles. There were concerns then, with buzz that Mielnicki had gotten a little homesick during training camp in California with Joe Goossen, a partnership that has ended.

A rematch between Mielnicki (9-1, 6 KO) and Martin was set up for July, but turned into one of the greatest multi-layered messes in weigh-in history, and eventually Mielnicki instead stopped Noah Kidd in the second round of his return bout, which did take place in Newark.

DeLomba (16-3, 5 KO) is a decent step up from the guys Mielnicki has beaten thus far. The 31-year-old Rhode Island native is neither prospect nor contender, with the window long shut on the former and the latter highly unlikely, but he usually goes rounds, as he did in his last fight, a Feb. 2020 loss to good 140 lb prospect Richardson Hitchins. Hitchins won every round, but DeLomba went all 10. He’ll probably look small next to Mielnicki, who is a big welterweight, and most likely is going to lose, but he knows his way around the ring.

The undercard will feature another young PBC prospect, middleweight Joey Spencer, who will face Limberth Ponce in an eight-round bout. The 21-year-old Spencer (13-0, 9 KO) wound up fighting the aforementioned James Martin in that July jumble, winning a clear eight-round decision.

Ponce (18-4, 11 KO), a 30-year-old Mexican based in Illinois, is a club guy who has done a lot of his pro boxing in Iowa. Not to insult the great state of Iowa, but, y’know; he’s 18-0 in Iowa and Kansas, and 0-4 elsewhere. The numbers don’t lie, and they spell disaster for Ponce at Sacrifice in Newark.