GLENDALE, AZ - As the consensus 140 pound champion Kostya Tszyu made his way to the ring, he was booed vehemently by fans in the arena.
Undoubtedly the same fans who remember a young Tszyu, who wisped into their hometown four years ago to knock out six-time world champion and Mexican hero Julio Cesar Chavez.
Apparently the masses have not forgotten, but how quickly do they forgive.
A hard, picture perfect straight hand will do the trick every time.
It took a mere minute before a hostile crowd turned into a pro Tszyu crowd, reversing the loud boos to cheers.
And as a result, IBF junior welterweight champion Kostya 'Thunder from Down Under' Tszyu easily retained his title Saturday night, demolishing Sharmba 'Little Big Man' Mitchell in less than three rounds of their long-awaited rematch.
Tszyu, 31-1 (25 KOs) knocked Mitchell down four times, with three of the knockdowns coming in the blistering third round.
Tszyu, traditionally a slow starter, came on in the early rounds to Mitchell's surprise. An early accidental head butt opened a small gash above Tszyu's right eyebrow.
Not to be deterred by the sight of blood, the champion became more aggressive, as he would later land a beautiful straight right hand on the chin in the second round, dropping a distraught Mitchell to the floor.
The end came when Tszyu clubbed Mitchell to his knees with two combinations, then hit him with two straight right hands, two lefts and a right before referee Raul Caiz mercifully stepped in with 12 seconds remaining in the round.
"I never expected this fight to end so early," Tszyu said after his victory. "I knew all along the right hand would work for me. I worked pretty hard. I was very confident. This is a great knockout and great victory for me."
Tszyu was credited with a seven-round technical knockout of Mitchell, 55-4 (31 KOs) when they fought on Feb. 3, 2001. However the win was tainted a bit because Mitchell could not continue after he had re-injured his left knee.
This time there were no excuses.
Mitchell on his own admission was in top shape, but shape or no shape, Tszyu would not be derailed.
Coming off a two year layoff (after tearing an Achilles' tendon and then tearing a shoulder tendon in January training), the Russian born, transplanted Australian looked better that ever.
His 'missle like' right hands were on the money, leaving no doubt that Tszyu is the man to beat at 140 pounds.
"I believe the two years off have only added longevity to my career," he said. "I know the lay off did me good and that I'm smarter than I was. The time off gave me a lot of time to think. I know I studied very hard for this. This fight was two years in the making."
Despite the devastating loss, Mitchell was gracious in defeat and mentioned that he would probably go up in weight to capture a welterweight title (147 pounds).
"Things happen in boxing," Mitchell explained afterwards. "Kostya Tszyu is a great champ. He caught me with a great punch and followed up with others. I was tight in the fight and I never got my head right. I will move on up and fight again in the future."
With the win, Tszyu improves to 15-1 in world championship fights. His lone loss was at the hands of the once dangerous 'Cool' Vince Phillips.
In two non-title bouts, WBO super bantamweight champion Joan Guzman, 22-0 won a ten-round unanimous decision over Joe Morales, and former junior middleweight champion Yory Boy Campas, 85-6 earned an eight-round decision over Raul Munoz.
Phil Banerjee
Contributing Editor
Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.
The end came when Tszyu clubbed Mitchell to his knees with two combinations, then hit him with two straight right hands, two lefts and a right before referee Raul Caiz mercifully stepped in with 12 seconds remaining in the round. 