Many local sports fans will remember the name of Mielnicki.
There were three Mielnicki brothers who wrestled and played football for Nutley High School in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Billy was the oldest, then came Vito and finally Anthony. They were all outstanding athletes, champions on the mat and standouts on the gridiron.
Well, Vito Mielnicki has become a successful boxing promoter, with nine boxers in his stable. But perhaps the best of the lot may come from his own living room.
Vito Mielnicki Jr. is only 17 years old, entering his senior year at West Essex High School. But since young Vito was a little boy, he was bred to become a boxing champion.
When young Vito was only seven years old, he made a promise to his father.
“We were watching TV, watching Floyd Mayweather fight Shane Mosley,” Vito Mielnicki Jr. said. “And I said to my father, ‘I want to be a boxer.’ So my father took me to the gym and it just snowballed from there.”
However, in the early days, young Vito had his doubts.
“Over the first couple of days, I hated it,” Vito Mielnicki Jr. said. “But then I grew to love it as the days went on.”
Vito Mielnicki was boxing on the amateur level at age 7.
“I was fighting kids nine and 10 years old,” Mielnicki Jr. said.
By the time he was 9, he was already an amateur boxing champion. He would go on to win the Junior Golden Gloves championship four times and the New Jersey amateur champion nine times.
“I started my amateur career 10-0,” Mielnicki Jr. said. “Then I lost my 11th and 12th bouts.”
Instead of lowering his head and walking away from the sport, Mielnicki Jr. was a young man on a mission.
“I became more determined and more driven to get back in the gym,” Mielnicki Jr. said. “I had to fix some things. In order to become great at something, I was told that I had to lose.”
Mielnicki, Jr. watched videotapes of Roberto Duran and also looked up to champion Canelo Alvarez.
In his younger days, the younger Mielnicki played Pop Warner football.
“But by the time I got to eighth grade, it was all my focus on boxing,” Mielnicki Jr. said. “I got to high school and it was all boxing.”
And it was all amateur boxing, some 175 bouts, 157 of which were victorious. He was on the Team USA High Performance national squad that traveled the globe, fighting in Serbia, Russia, Ireland, England and Spain. He was trained by former world champions Virgil Hill and James “Buddy” McGirt, a New Jersey fan favorite who trained in gyms and fought in venues all over northern New Jersey.
“He has deep roots in the game,” said Vito Mielnicki Sr., who has watched over his son’s boxing career. “He is a special boxer who consistently kept winning.”
In April, the younger Mielnicki was part of a New Jersey boxing team that went to Spain. It was after that fight that Vito Mielnicki wanted to turn professional.
There was only one problem. The New Jersey Athletic Commission will not give a license to anyone under the age of 18.
But Mielnicki Jr. had different circumstances.
“We knew that the time was coming to turn pro,” Mielnicki Jr. said. “I made up my mind after the trip to Spain. I knew I was ready.”
“As long as I signed off,” Mielnicki Sr. said. “There was no reason why he couldn’t turn pro.”
The Mielnickis applied to New Jersey Boxing Commissioner Larry Hazzard to see whether Vito Mielnicki Jr. could get his license to become a professional.
“He was able to get a waiver and got his license,” the elder Mielnicki said.
“Commissioner Hazzard has known me since I started boxing,” Vito Mielnicki Jr. said. “He knew that I was good enough to box. He knew I was ready. I wouldn’t have turned pro if I wasn’t ready.”
Last Saturday night, Mielnicki Jr. made his professional debut at the Prudential Center on the undercard of Olympic champion and Newark native Shakur Stevenson’s bout. And Mielnicki wasted little time in becoming a victorious pro, knocking out 24-year-old Tamarcus Smith of Mississippi in just 1:16 in a welterweight bout.
There were plenty of Mielnicki followers in attendance, as the Mielnicki family sold more than 1,300 tickets for the fight.
With the win, Vito Mielnicki Jr. became the youngest professional boxer in New Jersey state history, quite a distinction for the young man.
He plans on making a return to the ring sometime in September or October.
“He has all the tools to be a great one,” said the elder Mielnicki, who also works in the construction restoration business. “We moved him up the right way. I was worried about the way he could handle it, but he handled it very well. My son is a pedigree.”
And in September, the younger Mielnicki will begin his senior year at West Essex High School.
He trains regularly at the Passaic Boxing Gym and Sky Club Fitness in West Caldwell. Mielnicki Jr. says that he spends five hours a day, six days a week in the gym on his training.
For now, the elder Mielnicki will handle the promotions for his son, but the younger one fought under the watchful eyes of Top Rank Boxing, spearheaded in part by Carl Moretti of North Arlington.
“It was a dream of mine to fight as a professional,” Mielnicki Jr. said. “I want to fight again and I want to keep it local in New Jersey. It was great to have all those people there rooting for me.”
Maybe the top promoters will see the draw and see the potential of having the youngest fighter in New Jersey history in their stables.
“I’m real excited,” Vito Mielnicki Jr. said. “I just have to keep it going from here.”
And keep going to U.S. History II and Calculus II classes as well.
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”