[Crimson]

Friday, June 5th, 1992
Welsh Institute of Sport; Cardiff, Wales
Floyd Havard 26*-1 (15) England
vs.
Brian Mitchell 47-2-3 (21) South Africa
- Brian Mitchell was surprisingly only a 5-2 favorite to defeat the relatively unproven Welshman Floyd Havard. Mitchell was a on a mission to prove himself as the best Jr. Light weight in the world. For reasons unclear to most he had been stripped of his WBA and most recently IBF title. The ultimate road warrior, Mitchell had won and defended those belts in hostile territory throughout his career. Convinced to put of his planned retirement, so that he could represent Africa during “Team Championship” matches, Mitchell had gone 4-1 (0) in those fights. The loss being a close Ls4 to Jeff Fenech. Mitchell and Fenech both hoped to meet one another again over 10-15 rounds.
- Although the “Welsh Institute of Sport” in Cardiff, Wales was not the most glamorous of fight venues, and only seated 1,200, all of those seats were filled with some raucous fans who vehemently wanted to see Havard defeat the South African legend. For Mitchell, it would be yet another fight in his opponents backyard and he seemed to be completely unfazed by it.
- Mitchell’s superior class showed early, but Havard had come to fight and with the pro-Havard crowd cheering everything he did one had to wonder how the judges had it scored.
- Ringside Expert Shane Macleod, had it EVEN 48-48 after 5 rounds. The punches landed numbers however were in Mitchell’s favor, 126-89. The faces of both showed Mitchell with hardly a mark on him, while the features of Havard were battered and his left eye (8) was ½ way closed.
- The trainer of Mitchell, Carlos Jacoma, urged Mitchell to pick up the pace and take the crowd out of the fight. Mitchell did just that from round 6 until the fights conclusion.
- Havard was tougher than expected however, and in round 9 had the hometown crowd on their feet, when he hurt Mitchell with a series of hooks.
- Havard acted as if he had the fight in the bag when he came out for the final round and began showboating to the crowd. The consummate professional, Mitchell took full advantage of Havard’s foolish overconfidence and absolutely ripped him in round 10, nearly closing the left eye of Havard (18).
- Mitchell’s final round rally resulted in a draw on the scorecard of Ringside Expert Shane Macleod, 96-96. Final punches landed numbers favored Mitchell 251-183.
- Craig Stephen had the call, “USA judge 96-93 for Mitchell, English judge 97-95 Havard, and Italian judge 96-95 for the winner by split decision……Brian Mitchell.”
- Brian Mitchell will be back on the road when he challenges John John Molina for the IBF title in Puerto Rico.
Brian Mitchell Ws10 Floyd Havard

Brian Mitchell vs. Tony Lopez I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obYVnt81LfE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kUfr...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm2hz...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRDuY...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnp_...eature=related


Brian Mitchell vs. Jim McDonnell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbD8...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35GjQ...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54jse...rom=PL&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy0nt...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQU6j...eature=related