Prudential Center series gives New Jersey boxing a fighting chance

The Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. has hosted plenty of boxing cards since opening its doors in 2007. Now “The Rock” will set the stage for the next generation of boxing talent in New Jersey.

The Garden State’s premier indoor sports arena will host its first installment of Brick City Fight Night Live this Friday, featuring a selection of the best prospects from around New Jersey and the surrounding areas. The series is promoted by GH3 Promotions, and will feature rising junior middleweight prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. in the ten-round main event against well-traveled veteran Salim Larbi.

The card will be streamed live by TrillerTV for the pay-per-view price of $19.99, while tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.

Dylan Wanagiel, Vice President of Sports Properties and Special Events at Prudential Center, says bringing a regular boxing series to the venue has long been a priority. Wanagiel says the target is to promote 3-4 “Brick City” shows per year, with the next event targeted for March or April.

“We think there is a lot of boxing talent in New Jersey, and they’re sometimes underserved in our market,” said Wanagiel.

“We are looking to make this regular programming for Prudential Center. I think the best way to grow an audience is to give them some consistency in programming so they can mark their calendars ahead of time.”

The local reach of the card has already been felt in the boxing community. A number of the boxers on the card, including Mielnicki Jr., Michael “Slick” Anderson and Mike Lee, were on hand last Thursday at the Boylan Street Recreation Center in Newark to work out with the young amateurs in the boxing program and offer words of inspiration.

That same week, Mielnicki Jr. was in attendance at New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall Pirates men’s basketball games at Prudential Center, promoting the show and doing ticket giveaways.

Though North Jersey has its share of local club cards, they are often scheduled as one-offs without much consistency. A regular schedule of local cards could help develop the market and build prospects into contenders and champions.

“For us to create a new program with a consistency to it is a way for the local talent to build their names and build their followings, it is important. We’ve seen it done in the past in New Jersey and now it’s important for us to be consistent with this program here in Newark,” said Wanagiel.

As evidenced by the lineup, there is certainly no shortage of local talent in the New Jersey area. Two of the fighters appearing on the card, Salim Larbi of Rahway, N.J. and Thomas LaManna of Millville, N.J., are former world title challengers. Five of the boxers in action have won national tournaments, including 2019 National Golden Gloves champion Anthony Johns of Newark, 2015 USA Junior Olympics champion Joseph Adorno of Allentown, Pa., 2016 Olympic Trials champion Paul Kroll of Philadelphia, 2017 USA Junior Open champion Mielnicki Jr. and 2018 Easter Qualifier champion John Vallejo of Paterson, N.J.

There is no shortage of storylines to follow on the card, either.

The 21-year-old Mielnicki (16-1, 11 knockouts), who is signed to Premier Boxing Champions, is returning to the venue where he made his pro debut at age 17. The Roseland, N.J. resident is the biggest local draw below the championship level, and is looking to cap off a breakout year against Larbi (22-12-3, 8 KOs), a native of Cambrai, France who challenged for the interim WBO junior middleweight title in 2012.

The 30-year-old Johns (6-1, 5 KOs) has proven himself to be a box office draw in his hometown as well, and is looking to bounce back from his first defeat, a controversial majority draw against Misael Graffioli in Argentina this past September. He faces Israel Camacho (2-9) in a four-round flyweight bout.

The card will also feature Mike Lee (10-2, 5 KOs) of Orange, N.J. in a rematch against Rickey Edwards (13-5, 3 KOs) of Paterson in a six-round welterweight bout. Lee will be looking to avenge his previous defeat to Edwards, who upset him by majority decision in May of 2022.

Kristian Prenga (14-1, 14 KOs), an explosive punching Albanian who now makes his home in Edgewater, N.J., will make his first appearance in North Jersey against Christopher Arnold (5-3, 5 KOs) of Fredericksburg, Va. in an eight round heavyweight bout. The 6’5” Prenga has brought a passionate following with him in his last three fights in Atlantic City, and now gets to show his drawing ability close to his home.

“Cornflake” LaManna (36-5-1, 15 KOs) has helped carry New Jersey boxing over the past decade, both as a homegrown attraction and the president of Rising Star Promotions, which hosts events in Atlantic City and Newark. The 32-year-old overcame mental health struggles following his knockout loss to Erislandy Lara in his only world title shot in 2021 and has built himself back to the no. 4 middleweight ranking with the WBA after six straight wins.

Also appearing in separate bouts are junior middleweight prospect Dwyke Flemmings Jr. (4-0, 4 KOs) of Paterson and featherweight prospect Malik Nelson (4-0, 3 KOs) of Perth Amboy, N.J.

A crowd of approximately 5,000 fans is expected for the first show, Wanagiel says. Part of the arena will be curtained off, with only the lower bowl of seats made available, but with Prudential Center being named the fifth highest grossing 15,001+ capacity venue in the world by Billboard’s year end rankings this year, Wanagiel says it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the audience grow for future shows.

“I’d say our vision is to focus on the local talent and give them a consistent platform for this program. I think as long as we’re doing that in a consistent manner, I think we’ll still see growth,” said Wanagiel.

“Over time with consistent programming, this could become a full house event.”

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 ryansongalia@gmail.com.

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