Welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr. (proper) stopped Nick DeLomba in 10 (Photograph by Kate Frese/HBSE)
Junior middleweight prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. will return to motion towards once-beaten Romanian Daniel Buciuc in a 10-round battle on Friday, Sept. 27, at The Theater at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Mielnicki-Buciuc joins an ESPN+-streamed undercard headlined by the WBO welterweight title conflict between reigning champ Sandy Ryan and former unified junior light-weight queen Mikaela Mayer.
Within the 10-round junior middleweight co-feature, Puerto Rican contender Xander Zayas will tackle Mexican contender Damian Sosa, and Brooklyn-born featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington will open the ESPN-televised tripleheader in a 10-rounder versus Sulaiman Segawa.
Ryan-Mayer, Zayas-Sosa, and Carrington-Segawa can be broadcast LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
Mielnicki (19-1, 13 KOs), a four-time Junior Nationwide Golden Gloves champion, turned professional in July 2019 at simply 17 years outdated, debuting on a High Rank on ESPN card in Newark, New Jersey. That night time, he registered a first-round knockout and went 5-0 earlier than graduating highschool in 2020. Regardless of a majority choice defeat to James Martin in his ninth combat, Mielnicki rebounded impressively, successful 10 consecutive bouts and claiming three regional titles. Now coaching in Houston with Ronnie Shields, Mielnicki started his 2024 marketing campaign with a unanimous choice over Ronald Cruz in Could earlier than signing with High Rank in June. In his final outing, he stopped Laszlo Toth in two rounds, with the combat formally ending by way of disqualification after Toth’s nook entered the ring following a knockdown. Buciuc (13-1, 5 KOs) has received a pair of bouts since dropping to Ermal Hadribeaj by choice in a bid for the WBC Worldwide junior middleweight title.
The ESPN+-streamed undercard may also characteristic the return of U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson, who will step up at school to face Puerto Rico’s Yomar Alamo in an eight-round junior welterweight conflict.
Johnson (13-0, 6 KOs) has made two appearances at The Theater this 12 months, stopping Paulo Galdino in a single in February earlier than besting Tarik Zaina by choice in June. Alamo (22-2-1, 13 KOs) dropped eventual world champion Liam Paro within the first spherical earlier than dropping a break up choice in December 2021. After a TKO loss to high contender Richardson Hitchins in November 2022, Alamo got here again this 12 months with victories over Adriano Porfirio Ramirez in February and Jayson Velez in July.
Two of the Dominican Republic’s high junior welterweight contenders may also see motion in separate 10-rounders.
Rohan Polanco (13-0, 8 KOs), a Tokyo Olympian, will sq. off towards Argentina’s Marcelino Lopez (37-4-1, 22 KOs). Polanco went 3-0 in 2023 after signing with High Rank. He handed Zaina his first professional loss in March earlier than a second-round stoppage of Luis Hernandez in June. Lopez loved a five-fight knockout streak from 2017 to 2021, together with a second-round stoppage towards former interim junior welterweight champion Pablo Cesar Cano. He returned in 2023 with choice losses to Orestes Velazquez in March and Zaina in November.
Freddie Roach-trained puncher Elvis “The Dominican Child” Rodriguez (16-1-1,13 KOs) will lock horns with Mexican American veteran Kendo Castañeda (21-6, 9 KOs). Rodriguez is on a formidable five-fight successful streak, together with a call over Joseph Adorno and a seventh-round TKO of former world champion Viktor Postol. Castañeda has confronted the likes of Jose Zepeda, Josue Vargas, and Raul Curiel in a professional profession spanning almost 12 years.
Bantamweight prospect Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz (12-0, 3 KOs) will tackle Mario Hernandez (12-4-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Diaz tallied factors verdicts over Edwin Rodriguez in March and Francisco Pedroza in June.
High heavyweight prospect Ali Feliz (3-0, 2 KOs), from Danbury, Connecticut, will combat Rashad Coulter (5-4, 3 KOs) in a six-rounder.
A press launch by High Rank was used on this article
