BoxRec

In their first fight Tszyu roughed Mitchell up and took him out of his rhythm, winning by TKO, when Sharmba quit on his stool at the end of the 7th round claiming he had damaged his left knee

but it wasn't all gravy for kostya, as Sharmba was fighting well throughout the fight, with his speed and accuracy giving Tszyu a lot of trouble

since they last fought, Tszyu has faced the better opposition, but also looked like he might be slowing down a little in his last fight against Jesse James Leija, Mitchell on the other hand put on a superb display of boxing in his last fight against Ben Tackie, winning every round and even dropping Tackie for the first time in his career

In many peoples opinions this is a 50-50 fight, how do you cats see it going?

i'm loving the look of the 3-1 against odds for Mitchell. But Tszyu has apparently been very impressive in sparring, so perhaps we should dismiss any age worries.

I think Sharmba's style is not suited for Tszyu and the first fight was pretty even when Mitchell quit. It was close and Mitchell had a bad knee. That would of surely effected his mobility which will be the key.

I'm picking Sharmba by decision, but it's a close fight.

this is a tough one for me cos i've not seen a gr8 deal of either man, funny enuff i've just got tszyu-chavez and i've been watching that i also had the tackie fight but i taped over that one i remember c mitchell on a big undercard a few years back and he looked alright slippery and slick but didn't like it up him much.

with this being in russia i c tszyu winning and pobably on pts unless he can break down mitchell who isn't the hardest to discourage.

tszyu W12(UD) mitchell

The worrying factor for me, concerning Mitchell's form since Tszyu is his struggle against Vince Phillips. Ricky's victory over him was far more convincing. There are a few guys (who have seen the contest) who actually thought Phillips may have deserved a razor thin decision. Whilst, I don't want to discredit Hatton, I think Tszyu would handle Phillips now with as much ease as Hatton did.

Its seem like all the true world class welter's can beat Tackie by a near shut out.

While, I'm glad that Mitchell took on credible opponent after Tszyu, and is worthy of this shot - however, I'm not convinced that he is any better than the guy who Kostya beat before. I'm also not convinced that Kostya has slipped since the Mitchell fight, I don't think he's quite the fighter he once was, but I thought this before the first Mitchell fight - I don't think he's slipped any further.

Kostya by late KO. I'm looking forward to this match up though a truly worthy title fight.

This is why I want to see heaven and earth moved to get Tszyu in a ring with Hatton, it's almost a no lose situation for the Hitman.

If he lost to Tszyu you can bet your bottom dollar he would at least do so gallantly gaining more fans in defeat and going out on his shield. And everyone expected him to lose to this P4P rated fighter.

And maybe just maybe Kostya is slipping and Ricky catches him at exactly the right time....

And surely Hatton's style is exactly the kind of style that would expose any frailty due to age because you will have to fight every minute of every round to keep him off you.

Shame for Kostya that he has had to postpone. Last thing he needs in the twilight of his career.

Judah (must as I dislike him) would beat him in a re-match.

At this stage of his career, this is a bad sign. Those sort of niggling shoulder injuries don't tend to heal very well in the later stages of a fighter's career.