Sport: Boxing
Born: May 9, 2002
Town: Roseland, New Jersey
Vito Mielnicki Jr. was born May 9, 2002 in Roseland, NJ. His father was a sports promoter who founded GH3 Promotions in 2010. Vito was strong, quick and loved contact sports. He played youth football for many years, and became interested in boxing around the age of 7. He began training at the Jamar Carter Gym in Newark, and worked his way through Elite Heat and Boylan Rec as he became one of the region’s top young amateur fighters. Along the way, he developed friendships with Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis, both of whom went on to achieve international success. His trainers included Buddy McGirt, Virgil Hill and Walli Moses.
Vito won his first National Junior Gold Gloves championship in 2011 at the age of 9 and was named the top boxer in the tournament. He won the competition again in 2012, 2014 and 2015. In 2018, he was the US Junior Welterweight champion as a sophomore at West Essex High School in North Caldwell.
At the age of 17, Vito stood 5’11” and tipped the scales at just under 150 pounds. As his skills sharpened and his body matured, he decided to turn pro after 147 amateur victories. The decision came in part because he would be too young to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Vito got the thumbs-up from the NJ Boxing Commission and he entered the ring at the Prudential Center as a professional for the first time on July 13, 2019. He scored a knockout against Tamarcus Smith in 76 seconds. He won his next two fights by KO, too.
In 2020, Vito earned his first decision in a bout held in Philadelphia, which went the full distance at four rounds. He won his next fight, in Las Vegas, against Corey Champion as part of a pay-per-view card. Champion had lost his previous fight to another high-school senior, Xander Zayas of Puerto Rico.
Vito lost for the first time against James Martin in 2021. Martin had just lost to Zayas, so the decision was considered a big upset. Vito tried all fight to land a home run punch without success, and was simply outworked.
Vito recovered to win his next four bouts, setting up a meeting with 31-year-old Limberth Ponce for the vacated WBA Continental Super Welterweight crown n October 2022. The fight went the distance and Vito was miles ahead on all the cards when the final bell rang. It was his first championship.