The last thing Vito Mielnicki Jr. wanted was to go the distance again on a huge stage Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 23-year-old middleweight contender appeared headed for another unanimous points win in his 10-round fight against Samuel Nmomah on “The Ring IV: Night of the Champions” card at ANB Arena. But after rocking the previously unbeaten Nigerian several times, Mielnicki made sure they didn’t hear the final bell late in the ninth round.
Mielnicki nailed Nmomah with a right hand and then a left hook that knocked him flat on his back just before the ninth round ended. Nmomah got up halfway through referee Hector Afu’s count, but Afu waved an end to the bout because he didn’t like the way Nmomah responded to his commands.
Mielnicki (22-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC), of Roseland, New Jersey, was declared the winner by technical knockout at 3:09 of the ninth round because the count continued after the round concluded. Mielnicki produced his first knockout since December 2023, when he took out Salim Larbi in the first round.
Nmomah, who resides in Novara, Italy, slipped to 21-1 (5 KOs).
In the round before he finished Nmomah, a leaping left hook by Mielnicki rocked him late in the eighth, when Nmomah was backed against the ropes. Mielnicki’s right hand landed with just under two minutes remaining in the eighth round.
Ronnie Shields, Mielnicki’s trainer, urged his fighter to separate himself from Nmomah in the eighth round, but he seemed reluctant to use a right hand he informed Shields he hurt earlier in the bout.
Nmomah landed two clean rights in the final 15 seconds of the seventh round.
A left uppercut by Nmomah caught Mielnicki with about 35 seconds on the clock in the sixth round. Mielnicki came back by landing a right hand with approximately 10 seconds to go in the sixth.
Mielnicki told Shields after the fifth round that he hurt his right hand. Mielnicki went down to his gloves and knees with 2:03 to go in the fifth round, but Afu rightly ruled that Nmomah pushed Mielnicki down from the back of his head
A right hand by Mielnicki caught Nmomah on his temple and wobbled him about 50 seconds into the fourth round. Mielnicki caught him with another right about 30 seconds later and Nmomah used the ropes to hold himself up.
Mielnicki drilled Nmomah with a right hand in the middle of the third round, which backed Nmomah into the ropes. Afu admonished Mielnicki for hitting Nmomah when he called for a break early in the third round.
Mielnicki’s left hook caught Nmomah about 45 seconds into the second round. A right hand by Mielnicki connected cleanly after he landed a jab about 40 seconds later.
Mielnicki and Nmomah worked off their jabs and wrestled for position for much of the first round. Nmomah snuck in a right uppercut a few seconds before the first round ended.
Five months earlier before he beat Nmomah, Mielnicki dropped Polish contender Kamil Gardzielik (19-1, 4 KOs) in the third round and won their 10-round main event by unanimous decision June 21 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.
