Ear To The Street
Defeat is Not an Option
Inspired by Sugar Ray Leonard, Sharmba Mitchell has never been a quitter. He has always been a high achiever and refuses to think that anybody in his class is better than him, so when he was met with the dilemma of getting his career back on the level of greatness it wasn't a dilemma in his mind at all. "I never thought that they beat me. I felt like I beat myself, so I refused to let that happen again. At least not in my prime."
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What followed was a knock out rampage. Mitchell KO'd 10 of his next 12 contenders, and he won three title fights, including his first World Title. In 1998, Sharmba Mitchell traveled all the way to France for an impressive attempt at the WBA Light Welterweight Championship of the World. He knocked Rahilou down twice in the second round and only had to knock him down one more time to win the fight to finally become World Champ, but Rahilou survived the round, but Mitchell win the bout in a unanimous decision.
He returned home to Washington D.C. where he defended his title in front of a frenzied home crowd as he beat Pedro Saiz. Sharmba defended his title a total of three times before he attempted to unify the WBA and WBC light welterweight title against his contender, Kostya Tszyu. Sharmba lost the fight by technical decision due to his knee being twisted in the fight. He returned to win the IBF Light Welterweight Title against Lovemore Ndou in 2004 before facing his nemesis again, Kostya Tszyu, in the rematch we had all been waiting for. Sharmba Mitchell was KO'd in the 3rd round suffering a devastating lose but refused to retire.
In his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sharmba was stopped in the 6th round by a vicious body shot even though it was clear that Sharmba was good to continue the fight, but the lose proved to be a stimulus for Floyd's skyrocketing career.
Sharmba Mitchell fought his entire career on the biggest stages that boxing has to offer all the way to his final fight where he was still fighting for a title. Sharmba is known as a good fighter by most, a great fighter by others, but no one can deny that he didn't duck any wreck from anybody. There is no shame in his career, win or lose. He has accomplished more in boxing than most boxers could even dream of. Sharmba Mitchell is worthy of honor and will be on Friday, September 19, 2014 along with five other boxers from DC that helped him dominate the '90s.
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