TalkingBoxing Interviews
Talking Boxing with SHARMBA MITCHELL
MON June 6, JULIUS STECKER - Former jr. welterweight champion and slick southpaw Sharmba Mitchell has been to the top of the mountain in the fight game. Having fought some of the best at 140, winnning world titles, and given nothing less then his best each and every time out. After losing by crushing knockout to Kostya Tszyu last year, Mitchell, 55-4, will be looking to reinvent himself in the welterweight division.
One of the premier divisions in boxing right now, welterweight has a lot of the big names and the big money fights for the Washington, DC native. So if Sharmba can regain his form, look for him to add another championship belt to his already full trophy case.
TalkingBoxing.com caught up with Sharmba to get his take on his upcoming fight against Chris 'The Mechanic' Smith (19-1-1) on the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Kevin McBride undercard fight June 11th at the MCI Center in Washington D.C. and much more.
“I have been having trouble for sometime now trying to make 140. Going into the Lovemore N'dou fight last year, I had a lot of trouble shedding those last few pounds,” stated Mitchell. “When I won that fight, I knew that should have been my last fight at 140, but the hype of rematch with Tszyu was there, so I decided to stay there, and by doing that it didn’t allow me to fight at full strength.”
Mitchell to his credit had always been talking about moving up in weight years ago, but the lure of a big defining fight with Tszyu was something "The Little Big Man" could not pass up, and in the end paid for it.
A rejuvenated, Mitchell feels an extra bounce in his step and is poised to regain the form that made him one of boxing’s best technicians of the past decade. His next opponent will be a tough and steady Chris Smith, who only has 1 loss on his ledger, with that loss to top 10 IBF welterweight contender David Estrada, who himself recently lost to Shane Mosley.
“I know he is a sturdy guy, and he only lost to the guy who Shane just beat, so I know he is tough. And he is from New York, so I know he is going to bring it.”
The Welterweight division is now littered with some of the top fighters in the sport. It includes a list of who’s who in boxing, with undisputed champion Zab Judah atop the heap. Others include WBO belt holder Antonio Margarito, future Hall of Famers like Mosley, and maybe Oscar De La Hoya, so there is no shortage of big money fights for Mitchell should he get past Smith.
“I am looking forward to winning a welterweight title, that will be the last thing I do in boxing, after I do that, I think it will be time to retire,” explained Mitchell about his future prospects.
Mitchell will be looking to make some noise in the welterweight division come June 11th and a win will inch him one step closer to becoming a two-division champion, and closing out a brilliant career.
Mitchell closed with this, “To my fans, I am still here, the Tszyu fight happened because of a lack of energy. Expect me to be back on top.”
