Sharmba Mitchell

Sharmba David Mitchell (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2006. He held the WBA light welterweight title from 1998 to 2001, and the IBF interim light welterweight title in 2004.

Professional career

Mitchell began his professional boxing career on September 23, 1988, knocking out Eddie Colón in three rounds at Atlantic City, New Jersey.

He had a mark of 14 wins and no losses with seven knockouts - including victories over former Olympic Games bronze medalist Aristides Acevedo and over Dana Roston - when he met a former or future world champion for the first time inside a ring. On March 8, 1990, he beat the famed former world champion Rafael Limón in Atlantic City by an eight-round unanimous decision.

Mitchell kept on winning, running his record up to 27-0 with sixteen knockouts, including a victory against former world title challenger Miguel Santana. He then fought former world champion Rocky Lockridge on April 22, 1992, winning a ten-round unanimous decision.

Mitchell had recorded a 31-0 record until he lost two fights in a row to begin 1994: one against future world champion Leavander Johnson in eight rounds, then to future two-time world lightweight champion Stevie Johnston in nine rounds. He did not lose another fight in the next seven years.

After six more wins in a row, including one over future world champion Terron Millett, Mitchell fought for the WBC continental Americas light welterweight title in Dallas, Texas on April 11, 1996. He won the title by knocking out Gilberto Floes in the second round.

On May 10, 1997, Mitchell defeated Jose Rafael Barboza by a twelve-round decision in Miami, Florida to win the WBA's Fedelatin belt in the same weight division. After two more victories, he got his first chance at winning a world title.

WBA light welterweight champion

On October 10, 1998, he beat Moroccan Khalid Rahilou by a twelve-round unanimous decision in Paris, France, becoming the WBA light welterweight champion.

Mitchell retained his world title four times, his last successful defense being against Puerto Rican Felix Flores on September 16, 2000, at Las Vegas. Mitchell was dropped in the first round, but he recovered and edged the challenger by two scores of 116-111 and one of 116-113.

First fight with Tszyu

After that fight, demand rose for a unification title bout between Mitchell and Kostya Tszyu of Australia, the WBC light welterweight champion.

The highly anticipated match took place in Las Vegas on February 3, 2001. The outcome was controversial, as Mitchell broke his knee early in the fight and he could not continue after round seven. Although Mitchell was not knocked out in a conventional way, this nevertheless counted as a knockout loss in his record.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Mitchell then fought eight bouts, winning each of them, including victories over former world champion Vince Phillips and winning the IBF super lightweight title against Lovemore N'Dou in Atlantic City New Jersey. Defending that title ounce in Manchester England. He also beat and became and the first person to have knocked down Ben Tackie.

Rematch with Tszyu

Template:Main article Negotiations for a rematch with Tszyu had been taking place long before the fights with the aforementioned rivals. Tszyu, however, had his own health problems, and the fight kept being cancelled. First scheduled for Australia and then for Moscow, the rematch finally took place on November 6, 2004, in Phoenix, Arizona. Mitchell was floored four times in the second bout with Tszyu before being stopped in round three, losing by knockout.

Losses to Mayweather and Williams

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} On November 19, 2005, Mitchell was defeated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their 147-lbs. non-title bout in Portland, Oregon. Mayweather dropped Mitchell in the third round with a straight right hand to the head, and again dropped him in the sixth with a hook to the body, ending the fight. During his most recent bout - against Paul Williams in Reno, Nevada, on August 19, 2006 - Mitchell was knocked down in the third round, and three times in the fourth round. Referee Richard Steele stopped the bout at 2:57 when Mitchell arose wobbly from the final knockdown. Mitchell retired for good shortly thereafter.

Mitchell finished his professional boxing career of 57 wins and 6 losses, with 30 knockout wins.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
63	Template:No2Loss	57–6	Paul Williams	KO	4 (12), Template:Small	Aug 19, 2006	Template:Small	Template:Small
62	Template:Yes2Win	57–5	Jose Luis Cruz	UD	10	May 3, 2006	Template:Small
61	Template:No2Loss	56–5	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	TKO	6 (12), Template:Small	Nov 19, 2005	Template:Small
60	Template:Yes2Win	56–4	Chris Smith	Template:Abbr	5 (12), Template:Small	Jun 11, 2005	Template:Small	Template:Small
59	Template:No2Loss	55–4	Kostya Tszyu	TKO	3 (12), Template:Small	Nov 6, 2004	Template:Small	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	55–3	Moises Pedroza	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Aug 7, 2004	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	54–3	Michael Stewart	UD	12	Apr 3, 2004	Template:Small	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	53–3	Lovemore N'dou	UD	12	Feb 7, 2004	Template:Small	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	52–3	Ben Tackie	UD	12	May 17, 2003	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	51–3	Carlos Vilches	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	Jan 25, 2003	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	50–3	Vince Phillips	MD	10	Nov 9, 2002	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	49–3	Frank Houghtaling	UD	10	Jul 2, 2002	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	48–3	Bernard Harris	UD	10	Mar 28, 2002	Template:Small
50	Template:No2Loss	47–3	Kostya Tszyu	RTD	7 (12), Template:Small	Feb 3, 2001	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	47–2	Felix Flores	UD	12	Sep 16, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	46–2	Elio Ortiz	UD	12	Nov 13, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	45–2	Reggie Green	Template:Abbr	12	Apr 24, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	44–2	Pedro Saiz	UD	12	Feb 6, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	43–2	Khalid Rahilou	UD	12	Oct 10, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	42–2	Bobby Elkins	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Feb 21, 1998	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	41–2	Dezi Ford	KO	5	Jul 15, 1997	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	40–2	Jose Rafael Barboza	PTS	12	May 10, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	39–2	John Stewart	KO	1	Oct 19, 1996	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	38–2	Gilberto Flores	KO	2 (12), Template:Small	Apr 11, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	37–2	Harold Bennett	TKO	1 (8), Template:Small	Feb 10, 1996	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	36–2	Allen Osborne	TKO	2	Dec 7, 1995	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	35–2	James Gatlin	TKO	5	Nov 21, 1995	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	34–2	Terron Millett	TKO	1 (8), Template:Small	Sep 16, 1995	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	33–2	Wayne Boudreaux	TKO	5	Mar 23, 1995	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–2	Lyndon Walker	KO	2	Oct 22, 1994	Template:Small
33	Template:No2Loss	31–2	Stevie Johnston	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Jun 21, 1994	Template:Small
32	Template:No2Loss	31–1	Leavander Johnson	KO	8 (12), Template:Small	Mar 18, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	31–0	Chad Broussard	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	Nov 6, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	30–0	Kenny Baysmore	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	May 22, 1993	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	29–0	Eric Whitfield	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Nov 29, 1992	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	28–0	Rocky Lockridge	UD	10	Apr 22, 1992	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	27–0	Gilberto Flores	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Feb 15, 1992	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	26–0	Leo Martinez	TKO	1	Jan 14, 1992	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	25–0	Keeley Thompson	TKO	10 (12), Template:Small	Oct 29, 1991	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	24–0	Miguel Santana	TKO	3	Jul 23, 1991	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	23–0	Darryl Richardson	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Apr 10, 1991	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	22–0	Felix Gonzales	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Mar 19, 1991	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Kevin Marston	UD	10	Jan 16, 1991	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Robert Byrd	RTD	7 (10), Template:Small	Nov 1, 1990	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Rodney Fennell	PTS	6	Sep 7, 1990	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Freddie Sevilla	TKO	5 (10)	Jul 20, 1990	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Eric Podolak	TKO	5 (10)	Jul 3, 1990	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Nigel Wenton	UD	8	Apr 29, 1990	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Billy Young	UD	10	Apr 3, 1990	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Rafael Limón	UD	8	Mar 3, 1990	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Bobby Brewer	UD	8	Feb 1, 1990	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Dana Roston	TKO	1 (8), Template:Small	Jan 11, 1990	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Joseph Alexander	UD	8	Nov 16, 1989	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Juan Torres	TKO	3	Oct 26, 1989	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Aristides Acevedo	UD	8	Sep 21, 1989	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Perry McQueen	Template:Abbr	1	Aug 16, 1989	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Javier Chavez	Template:Abbr	2 (4), Template:Small	May 23, 1989	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Verrol Liverpool	Template:Abbr	6	Apr 27, 1989	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Thomas Baker	UD	6	Mar 23, 1989	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Craig Wills	UD	4	Jan 15, 1989	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Willie Rivera	Template:Abbr	4	Nov 22, 1988	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Randy Kearse	TKO	2	Oct 11, 1988	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Eddie Colon	Template:Abbr	3	Sep 23, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small

Awards

• 2011: Washington D.C. Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2012: Maryland Sports Hall of Fame inductee<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Boxrec