Pinky Mitchell was an American boxer who became the first champion in the light welterweight division by receiving the most votes by ballot on November 15, 1922. He held the title until 1926.

In his impressive career he fought Oakland Jimmy Duffy, and champions Rocky Kansas, James Red Herring, Benny Leonard, Lew Tendler, Jack Britton, Mushy Callahan and Joe Dundee.

Early life Born Myron Mitchell on January 1, 1899, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mitchell was nicknamed Pinky because of his father's statement, on seeing Mitchell in his crib as a baby, that "he's like a little pink rascal." He was a highly praised amateur boxer, and during his amateur days, former lightweight champion Battling Nelson said he was the best-looking prospect he had seen.

Professional career Mitchell began boxing professionally in 1917. His brother, Richie Mitchell, was also a boxer. Their two styles were quite different, however. Richie was known for all-action bouts while Pinky, according to a later historian, "became a pariah in Milwaukee rings" due to his "lethargic performances" in boxing matches.

On April 11, 1919, Mitchell drew with Harry Shuman, Pacific Coast Lightweight Champion, in Seattle in a four round match. The Milwaukee Sentinel noted that he "was pleased at the treatment he had received in Seattle", though he was accustomed to longer fights."Pinky Mitchell Well Pleased with Treatment", Milwaukee Sentinel, pg. 14, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 16 April 1919.

Inaugural world light welterweight champion, 1922 In 1922 Mike Collins, the publisher of a Minneapolis weekly newspaper, the Boxing Blade, created the light welterweight category and asked his readers to vote for the man they felt was the best fighter at 140 pounds. Mitchell won the balloting and was recognized on November 15, 1922, as the first world light welterweight champion. The National Boxing Association (NBA) followed suit and recognized Mitchell as champion.

Mitchell lost to Benny Leonard on May 29, 1923, in a ten round technical knockout in Chicago. Leonard's win was one of many against world champions, though the fight was not a title fight. As Leonard refused to weigh in, neither his world lightweight or Mitchell's world junior welterweight titles were at stake. After a slow first five rounds with few blows, Leonard took the lead in the remaining rounds with the exception of the eighth and ninth. In the eight, Mitchell scored with four rights to the chin of Leonard. Though both boxers scored points, Leonard seemed to have the edge from the fifth. In the tenth, Leonard dropped Pinky to the mat, and upon arising, he knocked him to the mat a second time. The referee called an end to the match, resulting in a technical knockout. Immediately afterwards, Pinkie's brother Ritchie believed a foul had been committed, claiming Leonard had hit Pinky when he was down on one knee on the mat, but the referee disagreed. The Buffalo Courier wrote that Leonard was in the motions of hitting Pinky when he was on one knee, but that the referee waved him away before the blow occurred."Leonard Stops Pinky Mitchell", Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, New York, pg. 14, 30 May 1923 Regardless, a fight between Richie and Davey Mitchell, the referee, ensued that ended in a near riot among the spectators. The police put down the protests with their billy clubs, though no arrests were made. Despite the protests, the charity event ended with a win by Leonard and no foul called by the referee against Mitchell in the tenth."Near Riot Marks Ending of Charity Affair", Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 17, 30 May 1923"Benny Leonard KO's Mitchell in the Tenth Round", The Montgomery Adviser, Montgomery, Alabama, pg. 6, 30 May 1923Leonard hit Ritchie while he was down on one knee in "Chicago Fight Ends in Riot", The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, pg. 33, 30 May 1923

Mitchell defended his title at least six times. One of those defenses, a 1925 fight against James "Red" Herring, was mired in controversy: Herring won by disqualification after Mitchell hit him on the break and claimed the light welterweight championship; the Wisconsin Commission and the NBA both declined to recognize Herring as champion, however, claiming that agreed conditions unobserved during the match meant that the disqualification was not grounds for the title to change hands.

After losing to Harmon, Mitchell then lost a newspaper decision to Willie Harmon in a non-title bout. In an unprecedented move, Mitchell returned his purse to his promoter as redress for his poor performance; it was later revealed that his brother, Billy Mitchell, was in fact his promoter as well as his manager. Following this bout, Harmon claimed Mitchell's NYSAC title after it appeared that Mitchell had temporarily vacated it to fight at welterweight.

Loss of title and career decline, September, 1926 His defense against Mushy Callahan saw Mitchell lose his title decisively on September 21, 1926, in a ten-round points decision. Callahan, who began piling up a points lead from the first round, knocked Mitchell to the canvas in the eighth and tenth. Except for the fourth, which was even, and the sixth, where Mitchell led, Callahan took a strong points margin in all the remaining rounds.Milligan, Bernard, "Callahan Wins From Mitchell", The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, pg. 33, 22 September 1926

After losing to Callahan, Mitchell never won another fight and retired in 1928.

After boxing After he retired, Mitchell twice ran for sheriff of Milwaukee County, losing both times.

He died on March 11, 1976, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes83Loss13–13–4 Phil KaplanDQ4 (10)May 22, 192882Loss13–12–4 Dick EvansNWS10Mar 29, 192881NC13–12–4 Joe DundeeNC6 (10)Aug 11, 192780Draw13–12–4 Clyde HullNWS10Dec 6, 19267913–12–4 Tommy WhiteNC12Nov 27, 192678Loss13–12–4 Shuffle CallahanKO3 (10)Nov 5, 192677Loss13–11–4 Mushy CallahanPTS10Sep 21, 192676Win13–10–4 Georgie LevineNWS10Sep 2, 192675Win13–10–4 Jimmy FinleyNWS10Aug 27, 192674Win13–10–4 Georgie WardDQ2 (?)Aug 20, 192673Win12–10–4 Tommy WhiteNWS10Aug 12, 192672Loss12–10–4 Tommy WhitePTS10Jul 18, 192671Loss12–9–4 Tommy FreemanNWS10Jun 22, 192670Loss12–9–4 Jimmy FinleyNWS10May 31, 192669Win12–9–4 Russie LeRoyNWS10Jan 14, 192668Loss12–9–4 Bermondsey Billy WellsNWS10Nov 6, 192567Loss12–9–4 Oakland Jimmy DuffyPTS10Sep 30, 192566Loss12–8–4 Joe DundeeSD10Sep 24, 192565Loss12–7–4 Willie HarmonNWS10Aug 14, 192564Win12–7–4 Jimmy GillNWS10May 25, 192563Loss12–7–4 Willie HarmonNWS12Apr 29, 192562Loss12–7–4 James "Red" HerringDQ6 (10)Mar 27, 192561Loss12–6–4 Joe AndersonTKO7 (10)Jul 21, 192460Win12–5–4 Al Van RyanNWS10Jun 10, 192459Loss12–5–4 Tommy FreemanPTS15Jun 2, 192458Draw12–4–4 Joe SimonichPTS10Apr 25, 192457Loss12–4–3 Oakland Jimmy DuffyPTS4Apr 16, 192456Win12–3–3 Bobby HarperPTS10Apr 8, 192455Loss11–3–3 Lew TendlerNWS10Feb 18, 192454Win11–3–3 Nate GoldmanDQ4 (10)Dec 14, 192353Win10–3–3 Sid BarbarianNWS10Nov 6, 192352Win10–3–3 Joe SimonichNWS10Oct 11, 192351Loss10–3–3 Nate GoldmanNWS8Jul 9, 192350Loss10–3–3 Benny LeonardTKO10 (10)May 29, 192349Win10–2–3 Tim DroneyKO5 (12)May 18, 1923 48Win9–2–3 Harvey ThorpeNWS10Apr 13, 1923 47Win9–2–3 Bobby BarrettKO3 (8)Apr 2, 192346Win8–2–3 Johnny TillmanNWS10Feb 13, 192345Win8–2–3 Bud LoganNWS10Jan 30, 1923 44Win8–2–3 Tommy O'BrienNWS10Sep 11, 192243Draw8–2–3 Johnny TillmanNWS10Aug 29, 192242Win8–2–3 Joe JawsonNWS10Aug 15, 192241Win8–2–3 Billy BurnsKO5 (?)Jul 21, 192240Win7–2–3 Billy BurnsKO5 (?)Jun 30, 192239Win6–2–3 Frankie WelshKO3 (?)May 15, 192238Win5–2–3 Pal MoranNWS10Apr 7, 192237Loss5–2–3 Dave ShadeKO4 (10)Mar 27, 192236Win5–1–3 Willie DoyleNWS10Mar 20, 192235Win5–1–3 Sid BarbarianNWS10Mar 2, 192234Win5–1–3 Tommy NearyNWS10Oct 21, 192133Win5–1–3 Jack JosephsNWS10Sep 30, 192132Loss5–1–3 Neal AllisonPTS10Aug 29, 192131Win5–0–3 Neal AllisonTKO9 (10)Aug 5, 192130Win4–0–3 Cal DelaneyNWS10Apr 19, 192129Win4–0–3 Patsy ClineNWS10Apr 7, 192128Draw4–0–3 Willie JacksonPTS15Jan 7, 192127Win4–0–2 Dennis O'KeefeNWS10Jan 1, 192126Win4–0–2 Clonie TaitNWS10Dec 17, 192025Loss4–0–2 Jack BrittonNWS10Dec 6, 192024Win4–0–2 Johnny NoyeKO4 (?)Sep 27, 192023Loss3–0–2 Rocky KansasNWS10Jun 30, 192022Loss3–0–2 Lew TendlerNWS10May 19, 192021Win3–0–2 Frankie SchoellNWS10Apr 17, 192020Win3–0–2 Barney AdairNWS10Mar 8, 192019Win3–0–2 Joe WellingNWS10Feb 16, 192018Win3–0–2 Cal DelaneyNWS10Feb 6, 192017Win3–0–2 Mike PaulsonNWS10Dec 15, 191916Win3–0–2 Mel CooganNWS10Nov 24, 191915Win3–0–2 Sailor FriedmanNWS10Nov 13, 191914Win3–0–2 Mickey DonleyNWS10Oct 21, 191913Win3–0–2 Charlie McCarthyKO7 (?)Oct 3, 191912Loss2–0–2 Charlie O'ConnellNWS10Jun 6, 191911Draw2–0–2 George InglePTS12May 2, 191910Draw2–0–1 Harry SchumanPTS4Apr 11, 19199Win2–0 Johnny NoyeNWS10Mar 5, 19198Win2–0 Eddie MoyNWS10Jan 27, 19197Win2–0 Otto WallaceTKO9 (10)Jan 1, 19196Win1–0 Otto WallaceNWS10Dec 9, 19185Win1–0 Otto WallaceNWS3Nov 29, 19184Win1–0 Knockout GormanNWS8Mar 14, 191831–0 Clint FlynnND10Mar 3, 19182Loss1–0 Johnny MendelsohnNWS10Jan 24, 19181Win1–0 Joe HomelandTKO2 (?)Nov 6, 1917

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.