WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 5, 2004) – SHARMBA “Little Big Man” MITCHELL, 54-3 (30 KOs), wasted little time in making his first defense of the IBF interim jr. welterweight title he won less than eight weeks ago, shellacking the IBF’s top-rated jr. welterweight contender and USBA champion, Michael Stewart, 35-2-2 (19 KOs), via a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England last Saturday. The fight, which was televised nationally on SHOWTIME, was Mitchell’s 54th victory in 57 professional fights, extending his two-year winning streak to seven bouts¦the last five against top-10 world-rated contenders.
Stewart was dropped for the first time in his career . . . and the Second time . . . AND the THIRD time in rounds three, five and nine, respectively, losing on scores of 120-105, 120-106 and 117-109.
Mitchell, from Takoma Park, MD, a suburb of Washington, D.C., has already given his promoter, Gary Shaw, instructions to line up another title defense for June as he awaits the twice postponed rematch against WBA/IBF champion Kostya Tszyu, who continues to recover from his latest training injury. Opponents on Mitchell’s short list include undefeated British sensation Ricky Hatton and WBC champion Arturo Gatti, whose promoter seems more intent on protecting his title than enhancing his legacy .
“Sharmba has already fought as many title fights this year as Tszyu has in the past two years, and it is only April,” said Shaw. “I have always believed Sharmba was the class of the division and he has continually proved me right since I started promoting him two years ago. You can measure his success not only by his last five victories and his second world title, but also by those who have avoided fighting him. I do not need to name names, just look around the division. It is very obvious.”
Indeed. Mitchell has only fought the highest-rated available contenders since Gary Shaw Productions began promoting him in 2002. Each fight has been more exciting and more important than the last. — a major reason SHOWTIME Championship Boxing has televised all of them. The list of Mitchell’s victims since November 2002 include: former world champion Vince Phillips, 44-6-1; Carlos Wilfredo Vilches, 38-2-2; Ben Tackie, 24-3; Lovemore N’Dou, 36-5-1; and Stewart, 35-1-2 “ a combined record of 177-17-6 and a winning percentage of 88.5% — when Mitchell fought them.