At just 21 years old, Vito Mielnicki Jr. knows he has time on his side. That doesn’t mean he is going to waste any of it.

Mielnicki is set to accomplish his goal of fighting four times in 2023 on Friday, December 29 – with just two days to spare – when he headlines at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. against former title challenger Salim Larbi in a ten-round junior middleweight bout.

For Mielnicki, a layoff between his fourth round KO of Jose Sanchez Charles in April and his first round knockout of Alexis Salazar Flores in November made his goal harder to complete, but his quick finish of Salazar, a durable brawler who had gone the distance with Xander Zayas and was only previously stopped by the heavy handed Carlos Adames, meant he had something left to give during the holiday season.

👀🔊 Así se vio y oyó desde ringside el KO 💣💥 de Vito Mielnicki Jr a Alexis Salazar

🎥 @premierboxing#ESPNKnockOut #BenavidezAndrade pic.twitter.com/7jbWfXPptB

— ESPN KnockOut (@ESPNKnockOut) November 27, 2023

To round out the circumstances, the card on Friday is promoted by GH3 Promotions, which is owned and operated by his father, Vito Mielnicki Sr. Mielnicki Jr., who is represented by Al Haymon and Premier Boxing Champions, was thankful that Haymon arranged for him to fight at the show, which is just 20 minutes from his hometown of Roseland, N.J.

“I didn’t take any damage in the fight. I only fought three times this year, I was looking to get four,” said Mielnicki (16-1, 11 knockouts).

“ I feel like I’m at the age where I can be active. Obviously it’s not a PBC card with Al Haymon but I’m excited. I know he has a lot of things in place for me as well. I’m excited to be back for this one.”

Vito Mielnicki Jr. during a media day visit to DORCA Boxing in Newark. Photo by Carlo Estonactoc

Friday’s fight will be his second under new head trainer Ronnie Shields, who also trains WBC middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo out of his Houston base. Mielnicki says he made the switch to take himself out of his comfort zone and get the best possible work for himself in the gym. He sparred over 150 rounds with Charlo prior to his last fight, which took place on the same card that Charlo ended a two-year layoff with a win over Jose Benavidez Jr.

Mielnicki says he also has gotten solid work there with other rising 154-pounders, including Yoenis Tellez (7-0, 6 KOs) and Andreas Katzourakis (11-0, 9 KOs).

“I felt like I needed to be around better sparring on a daily basis against top guys in the business. I feel like that’s a great way to grow in the business, to get in there with a lot of top guys in sparring. I saw that in terms of the Terence Crawfords, the Gervonta Davises, the Shakur Stevensons, Devin Haney, they went around and got a lot more work with different guys. The kind of work I’m getting every day which is world championship work,” said Mielnicki.

“When you’re around those kind of guys every day along with Ronnie Shields, that’s truly a blessing and as a young guy you couldn’t choose anything better.”

That experience will come in handy against Larbi (22-12-3, 8 KOs), who figures to be Mielnicki’s most experienced foe to date. The French-Algerian boxer-puncher challenged for the interim WBO junior welterweight title in 2012, losing by seventh round KO to Lukas Konecny. The 36-year-old has had some respectable results, including a second round stoppage of Patrice Sou Toke in 2013 and a draw with Nicolas Hernandez in 2021, and is coming off a close unanimous decision loss to Thomas LaManna in March.

Larbi is now based in Rahway, N.J. and trained by Carlos Solano at Brunswick Boxing Stars in North Brunswick, N.J.

“He’s a good competitor, he’s been around. He’s been in there with a lot of top guys so I’m expecting the best version of Salim Larbi come fight night. Every person that I step in there with is a championship level fight and I take all the fights the same,” said Mielnicki.

While Mielnicki’s addition to the card is likely to move a lot more tickets, he doesn’t want to be labeled simply as a local ticket seller. He has a bigger vision for his career in the ring.

“As a young guy coming up, it’s important to have people backing you because a lot of growing comes with selling. So if I can continue to put people in seats, that will allow my career continue to grow as well,” said Mielnicki, who has set a goal of fighting five times in 2024.

“A lot of people early on labeled me as a ticket seller, I don’t like to be that in terms of ‘Oh, he’s just a good ticket seller.’ I want to be more than just Jersey, I want to be global. We’re starting in Jersey and we’re gonna continue to expand throughout the world.”

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].