Seth Mitchell: The Great American Hope at Heavyweight

Undefeated American heavyweight prospect Seth Mitchell improved his record to 24(18)-0-1 with a dominating second-round technical knockout of the veteran Timur Ibragimov (30(16)-4(1)-1) on Saturday night in the Convention Center in Washington D.C. The fight was on the Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson undercard.

It's true that the tall, lanky and somewhat soft-looking Ibragimov was probably tailor-made for the athletically explosive Mitchell, a former Michigan State standout at linebacker, but it was the first knockout suffered by the Uzbekistan native in 34 professional fights.

Simply put, people just usually don't do the 36-year-old Ibragimov that way.

It was supposed to be a step up in talent for the Maryland-based heavyweight—a chance for him to get some good rounds in his HBO premiere. Instead Mitchell simply continued the pattern he had established in his first two dozen fights, of simply steamrolling whoever is unfortunate enough to placed in front of him. 

It's time to stop viewing him as a football player trying to box and start talking about him as a boxer who used to play football. 

At this point it is simply incidental that Mitchell was once a standout player for a top Division I football program, or that he came to his current sport late, after a knee injury ended his run as a football star. He might have started learning his boxing craft later than most guys at his level, but he shows little indication that his learning curve has been steep. 

Against Ibragimov, Mitchell showed a dangerous and technically solid offense. He used great balance and footwork to control distance behind a stiff jab and he delivered power-shot combos from a variety of unexpected angles.

Though still inexperienced, Mitchell shows signs of developing into an intelligent fighter; it is clear that he has devoted the time to and focused his attention on learning his boxing technique.

It actually shouldn't be a surprise that a guy who has already developed himself to an elite level in one sport should show rapid promise after becoming passionate about a new one. Athletes like Mitchell have above-average body intelligence, the jock equivalent of whatever Einstein-types have over the rest of us apes when it comes to noodling things out abstractly.  

A good comparison here might be Ken Norton, who did not start boxing until he was in the Marines, after he had already attended Northeast Missouri State on a scholarship for football, basketball and track.

Norton, incidentally, was such a dominant high school athlete that the state of Illinois actually instituted a "Ken Norton Rule" limiting the number of events a competitor could enter to prevent one athlete from winning the team meet all by himself. 

Naturally it remains to be seen what Mitchell will do against a truly game opponent. It is one thing to exploit athletic advantages against second-tier competition. It's time to see what happens when the streaking American prospect encounters somebody with a toolbox big enough to counter whatever unique gifts and hard earned skills Mitchell has previously enjoyed. 

But it's not like football players aren't known for being tough. Mitchell did take one or two decent shots from Ibragimov in the first round and showed no negative effects from it. 

So, who should be next for "Mayhem" Mitchell?

In an ideal world, it would be another highly regarded heavyweight prospect, somebody who has also been sorely lacking in stiff enough competition of late. I wrote a few months ago that I'd like to see him take on Tyson Fury. Fury, 17(12)-0, is the British Commonwealth Champion. The Irish-English fighter is only a few inches under seven foot and uses his reach well. He would be a challenging new puzzle for Mitchell.

Mike Perez, 17(12)-0, is a Cuban native who defected to Ireland and now fights as the "Pride of County Cork." He tore through the competition on an episode of the British Prize Fighter series last May, recording two KO's and a one-sided three-round unanimous decision. Listed as a probably generous six foot and weighing in at around 230 pounds and with a good amateur background, he has drawn comparisons to Mike Tyson.

A Mitchell-Perez fight would probably not make it to the final bell, and might be a bigger risk than either fighter's handlers are willing to consider right now. But if the two keep moving forward at the pace they are now, a future clash might be inevitable.