By James Slater: Though the outstanding main event, upset, controversy, FOTY candidate that was Lamont Peterson WM12 Amir Khan is rightly dominating the boxing headlines right now, unbeaten U.S heavyweight Seth Mitchell, boxing on last night’s D.C under-card, sure made a massively noteworthy statement of his own.
For a while now in the Klitschko-dominated heavyweight division, U.S fans have wondered aloud where the next American heavyweight is; a big man who can be believed in, and who can be given a genuine shot at bringing at least a slice of the title back home. In scoring a sensational 2nd-round stoppage of the previously unstopped, experienced Timur Ibragimov in the nation’s capitol last night, the 29-year-old from Maryland sure looked like that very commodity. Now 24-0-1(18), “Mayhem” delivered a performance that has to make U.S fans smile.
It’s still way too early to suggest Mitchell is capable of defeating either Klitschko, of course (in fact it’s still too early to even suggest putting Mitchell in with either champion), but the future looks good for him. Mitchell’s left hook is a formidable weapon, as is his powerful and accurate right hand. Also possessing a decent jab, Mitchell looked like a genuine contender last night. No-one predicted such a quick win for the former Gridiron star, and he made a statement in becoming the first man to halt the man from Uzbekistan who holds wins over the likes of Oliver McCall, Timo Hoffman and who has a draw with Kevin Johnson.
Ibragimov, now 30-4-1(16) may be no world-beater, but for Mitchell to have handled him so easily, well, respect goes out. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya has gone as far as to call Mitchell “the future of the American heavyweights.” Guys like Eddie Chambers and Chris Arreola may argue with that statement (both those guys would make great opponents for Mitchell, by the way), but Mitchell does have enormous promise.
There are of course, still questions about Mitchell’s chin (he was tagged with a couple last night and took the punches well), but the things we do know about Mitchell are encouraging – he is athletic, fast, powerful and hungry. It may not be too long before Mitchell is topping big cards, not appearing in supporting bouts.