By: Sean Crose
The PBC returns to Fox tonight with a card that may not present some of the biggest names in the sport, but still may provide fan entertainment. Gerald Washington, the veteran heavyweight, was supposed to highlight the event. Sadly, Washington was removed from competition due to testing positive for Covid. Now Washington’s would-be opponent, the rising 12-0 Michael Coffie will be facing the 13-6-1 Jonathan Rice in a scheduled 10 rounder. Coffie knocked out Darmani Rock in three his last time out while Rice dropped a unanimous decision to Efe Ajagba his last time in action.
The 8-1 welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr will also appear on this evening’s card, coming back from his first loss (courtesy of James Martin) via majority decision his last time out. Mielnicki Jr’s opponent in tonight’s scheduled 8 rounder will be the 6-3-2 Noah Kidd, who was last spotted knocking out Garrett Mueller in five. The 7-2 Martin will appear on Saturday night’s card as well, taking on the 12-0 Joey Spencer in a scheduled eight round battle of welterweights. Martin was last spotted surprising Mielnicki Jr while Spencer last saw action knocking out Isiah Seldon in the first.
The lead up to this card, which will go down at Newark’s Prudential Center, has been nothing short of off the wall. Aside from Washington coming down with Covid, both Martin and Spencer missed weight, leading to them fighting each other at the expense of other fighters who rightfully should have been on the card. Here’s hoping the action inside the ring tonight will at least compensate a bit for all the pre-card chaos.