Derry's Connor Coyle expecting rematch after 'toughest fight' of his career

Connor Coyle is hoping for a summer rematch with Vito Mielnicki Jr. after the two fighters put on a memorable show at Madison Square Garden which ended in a draw last weekend.

Both fighters gave it their all in a fascinating contest, which went the distance before the judges made the call.

Tom Carusone scored Mielnicki a 96-94 winner, but Ken Ezzo and Kevin Morgan scored their 10-round, 160-pound bout even – 95-95 apiece – and it resulted in a majority draw.

Morgan scored each of the last four rounds for Coyle. He scored five of the first six rounds for Mielnicki.

It is the first time in his professional career that Coyle has failed to secure the victory, but the strength of the performance, and the fact that he remains unbeaten, means this could be the most significant performance of his career.

“It would have been better going home with a win, but we were there in his back garden on his show with his promoter and we have come out with a draw,” he reflected. “I think if it had gone to the judges, they would have given it against me no matter what but they didn’t and that just shows how close it was. I felt I should have edged it I think, especially with him doing the low blows and things like that; he should have been deducted a few rounds at least.”

22-year-old Middleweight Mielnicki was under pressure to perform after a lacklustre showing in his previous fight four months earlier, and he was strong throughout, rocking Coyle several times during the fight.

In response, Coyle exploited Mielnicki’s defensive deficiencies and won enough rounds to leave the ring without a loss on his record.

Connor Coyle lands a hard right onto Vito Mielnicki Jr. during their fight last weekend.

“He took me by surprise a bit with his speed and power,” Coyle explained. “I didn’t expect him to be that strong. He came up to Middleweight but he was obviously struggling to make that weight below. He was coming in strong to the fight full of energy, but he did take me by surprise and he hit me with some hard shots too. He was unable to take my force too. It was just an all-out war. It was a good tough fight. Without a doubt it was the toughest fight of my career, the roughest anyway, especially with his tactics and the way he was fighting.”

Coyle entered the ring ranked No. 3 among the WBA’s middleweight contenders, but still with a point to prove after fighting just once in 2024 with some big-name fights eluding him in recent times.

The two fighters spent much of the first round trying to establish distance with their jabs, but neither fighter landed consequential punches in the opening three minutes.

Mielnicki landed an overhand right that staggered Coyle about 35 seconds into the second round. Coyle retreated after taking that shot, but Mielnicki landed another right hand toward the end of the second round that seemed to affect his opponent as well.

The pendulum swung again in the third when Coyle caught Mielnicki with a left hook and a right hand to regain some momentum.

Coyle landed various power punches during the first half of the fourth round. Mielnicki then responded with a right hand which opened a cut around Coyle’s left eye.

Coyle caught Mielnicki with an overhand right early in the fifth round, when Mielnicki came forward with his left hand down.

Mielnicki was on top in the sixth, cracking Coyle with a clean left hook before an overhand right stopped his opponent in his tracks later in the sixth round.

Coyle connected with a right hand as soon as the seventh round began. Coyle clipped Mielnicki with a left hook out of a clinch later in the seventh round.

Referee Willis warned Mielnicki for hitting Coyle behind his head in the final minute of the seventh round. Mielnicki’s right to the side of Coyle’s head knocked him off balance with approximately 45 seconds on the clock in the seventh round. The tactics of Mielnicki were hard to ignore.

“I just had to keep myself calm. I can’t control that,” Coyle said. “One of the times during the rounds I had to say to the ref that he was hitting me with low blows, so the ref told me to take my time. You usually get five minutes from a low blow, but I also thought he was going to deduct a point from him, but he didn’t. He told me to take a rest but I told him I was ready to go.”

A right uppercut by Coyle landed as Mielnicki moved forward with just over a minute to go in the eighth round. He landed an array of power punches in the opening minute of the eighth round, when Mielnicki failed to move his head.

As blood flowed from the cut around his left eye, Coyle traded punches with Mielnicki for much of the ninth round. A sweeping left hook by Mielnicki knocked Coyle backward a few seconds before the ninth round concluded.

With their back-and-forth fight seemingly up for grabs, Mielnicki and Coyle traded flush punches for much of an entertaining 10th round. A right hand by Mielnicki to the side of Coyle’s head knocked him off balance in the final minute of their bout, but Coyle came back to throw hard shots until the final bell.

The highly-rated Vito Mielnicki Jr could not defeat the Derryman.

“It didn’t do us any harm,” Coyle reflected. “We were on a big stage, a good platform and there were plenty of people there and we had loads if support. People will be talking now and saying that I’m a good warrior. We will be more likely to get the rematch now, but if not, there are still big fights there for us because of that fight. Obviously, I would have liked to have edged it and get the win, but it is what it is and hopefully I will get a rematch again, down the line, maybe in the summertime and we’ll just go from there.”

Having been disappointed with his performance against Kyle Lomotey in Barnsley last summer, Coyle was much more at ease with his display this time around.

“I could have done a few things better, but you’re always going to be your own biggest critic,” he said. “Overall, I was definitely more pleased. I let the hands go and I landed some good, hard, clean shots as well. There were glimpses in the fight where you could see how good I was in the shots that I could take and the shots that I could give. It didn’t do me any harm that performance. The performance was good, and there’s definitely no questions to be asked anymore. They know what I can do.”

Coyle has returned home to Derry as he awaits the next chapter in his career – whether it is a replay against Mielnicki or a new fight altogether remains to be seen. Mielnicki may not want the replay however after a tough first fight.

“That’s the thing. He knew it was a tough fight too,” Coyle stated. “Their promoter is already talking to my team. They want to do a rematch because I sold out; they said they were surprised with the amount of support I had over, so they definitely want to do it again. Plus, it was a title eliminator fight and it was a draw so nobody has the opportunity for the title, so we have to do it again really.”

“It’s only February now, so if they want to do that rematch it will be in June-time, so I can get in, get the other fight for June and then enjoy the summer with my family.”