Khan, Peterson hit scale in Washington, DC

Washington DC - The only bright hope in the bleak American heavyweight landscape in Seth Mitchell proved he really is America's only best chance in the division. The undefeated Mitchell who hails from nearby Brandywine, Maryland who brought with him a strong, loud and supportive hometown crowd scored a resounding 2nd round TKO of big heavyweight Timur Ibragimov 30-3-1 (16 KOs) of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The 1st round opened without much action as the two boxers felt each other's punches first. Mitchell sprang back quickly from his stool on the 2nd and immediately landed a big right on the Uzbek fighter. Ibragimov tried to answer back by pounding on the American but another big punch lands for Mitchell, this one courtesy of a left. That hurt Ibragimov as he held on to Mitchell to prevent his assault.


Mitchell got out of the hold and sent a flurry of punches towards Ibragimov's way. Those flurry of punches landed well and landed good on Ibragimov's head as the crowd here in the nation's capital cheered in appreciation of their hometown fighter.


Ibragimov took all of Mitchell's punches which came in the way of overhand rights and left hooks forcing him to be pinned on the corner as the undefeated Mitchell pounded him more.


The Uzbek fighter was defenseless in the assault forcing referee Malik Waleed to halt the fight right away. Ibragimov protested the stoppage but to no avail. The fight was stopped at the 2:48 mark of the second earning Mitchell his 24th victory and 18th knockout. More so, it raised his stakes as an eligible contender to the kings of the heavyweight division in the Klitschko brothers who are in total domination of it.


The victorious Mitchell acknowledged in a bout broadcasted in HBO in his home turf in a sell out crowd here at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, that he wanted to be in the mix in the big wigs of the division. "That is the platform I want to be on. I want to continue to buzz," said Mitchell.


The former American football linebacker indeed put his name out there as a potential live opponent for one of the Klitschko brothers but it cannot be overlooked that he still has a long way to go for him to be considered as a threat to their thrones. But at the current condition of the once glorious division of boxing, that performance by Mitchell might just be enough to light that fire of hope especially for American fans. And there is no better spot to start it rolling but here in the nation's capital.


WBA/IBF Super Lightweight champion Amir Khan stepped on the scale as Khan fans chanted and blew airhorns. Khan weighed in at 139 pounds. The challenger, Lamont Peterson, thrilled his hometown fans when he hit the scale and weighed in at the super lightweight limit of 140 pounds.


The players in the heavyweight co-feature followed. Hometown hero Seth Mitchell will have an almost 20-pound weight advantage when he faces Timor Ibragimov. Mitchell came in at 240 1/2 and Ibragimov weighed 221.


Here are the rest of the weights for the card:


Anthony Peterson 137 vs. Daniel Attah 136
Fernando Guerrero 162 vs. Robert Kliewer 161
Jamie Kavanaugh 135 vs. Ramsies Gil 135
Thomas Williams, Jr. 174 vs. Reynaldo Rodriguez 171
Dusty Harrison 144 vs. Terrell Davis 146
Terron Grant 134 vs. Deshawn Autry 134
Joshua Davis 134 vs. Chris Russell 134