Charles Watson Mitchell (24 November 1861 – 3 April 1918) was an English world heavyweight boxing title contender and lightweight champion.

Professional career Mitchell was born on 24 November 1861 in the city of Birmingham, England. Mitchell had exceptional ability at using London Prize Ring Rules to his advantage. During his career, he engaged in over 100 fights with both gloves and bare-knuckles, using the London Prize Ring Rules as well as the Queensberry Rules. He often fought men who outweighed him by 30 to 40 pounds. Mitchell took on all comers in London, often fighting as many as four bouts in one night.

In 1880 he became the boxing instructor for the International Athletic Club at the "White Rose" in London, and opened a boxing school at the "Palais Rubens" in Antwerp, Belgium.

In 1882 Billy Madden, the former tutor and backer of John L. Sullivan, put on an openweight boxing tournament in England, in order to find a challenger for John L. Sullivan. This was a professional tournament, held under amateur rules, consisting of 3 3 minute rounds, with an extra 2 minute round being fought in the case of draws, A number of prominent boxers including Jem Goode and Jack Knifton entered. Despite being both the youngest and lightest of the 21 competitors, Mitchell won the tournament."Mr. Madden's Championship of England Boxing Competition" Sporting Life, 23 December 1882, page 3"Mr. Madden's Championship of England Boxing Competition" Sporting Life, 26 December 1882

Mitchell toured the United States and Canada with Jake Kilrain, and later Frank "Paddy" Slavin, putting on exhibitions, sometimes daily and sometimes on the same day as one of his fights. Mitchell was in Kilrain's corner on 8 July 1889 when he fought John L. Sullivan for the world heavyweight boxing championship.

Mitchell fought John L. Sullivan in 1883, knocking him down in the first round before the police halted the contest in the third round. Their second[Sullivan and Mitchell had a scheduled rematch 30 June 1884 in New York City but Sullivan declined to fight because it was reported he was "too sick" Wichita Daily Eagle 1 July 1884.] meeting took place in 1888 on the grounds of a chateau at Chantilly, France in driving rain. It went on for more than two hours, at the end of which both men were unrecognisable and had suffered much loss of blood; neither could lift his arms to punch and the contest was considered a draw.

The local gendarmerie arrived at this point and managed to arrest Mitchell, who spent the next few days in a cell and was later fined by the local magistrate, boxing being illegal in France at that time. Sullivan managed to evade the law, swathed in bandages, and was taken back across the English Channel to spend the next few weeks convalescing in Liverpool. Mitchell acted as Sullivan's corner man for many years after.

In 1894 Mitchell fought in his most noteworthy bout, against James J Corbett for the world heavyweight championship. Corbett won by KO in the 3rd round, winning $20,000.

Death Mitchell died on 3 April 1918 in Hove at age 56.

Honors Mitchell was inducted into the Ring Magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame in 1957, and inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (2002).

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes50ND26–3–11 Steve O'DonnellND3May 25, 189649Loss26–3–11 James J. CorbettKO3 (?)Jan 25, 189448ND26–2–11 Jim HallND3Oct 4, 189347ND26–2–11 Jim HallND3Sep 29, 189346ND26–2–11 Frank SlavinND3Mar 7, 189245Win26–2–11 Arthur UphamPTS4Mar 2, 189244ND25–2–11 Frank SlavinND4Mar 2, 189243ND25–2–11 Frank SlavinND3Apr 30, 189142ND25–2–11 Frank SlavinND3Apr 9, 189141Win25–2–11 Jem MacePTS4Feb 7, 189040Draw24–2–11 John L. SullivanPTS39Feb 10, 188939Win24–2–10 Reddy GallagherPTS6Aug 28, 188738Draw23–2–10 Patsy CardiffPTS5Jun 11, 188737Draw23–2–9 Jack BurkePTS10 (8)May 10, 188636Draw23–2–8 Jack BurkePTS6Jun 29, 188535Draw23–2–7 Mike ClearyPTS4May 22, 188534Win23–2–6 John ScholesPTS4Feb 23, 188533Win22–2–6 Jim BradyKO3 (?)Dec, 188432ND21–2–6 Jack BurkeNC3 (8)Nov 24, 188431Draw21–2–6 Jack BurkePTS4Oct 21, 188430Loss21–2–5 Dominick McCaffreyPTS4Oct 13, 188429Win21–1–5 Billy EdwardsKO3 (?)May 12, 188428Draw20–1–5 Jake KilrainPTS4Mar 26, 188427Win20–1–4 Joe DenningPTS4Mar 20, 188426Win19–1–4 Tug WilsonKO3 (?)Nov 15, 188325Draw18–1–4 William SherriffPTS7 (6)Oct 2, 188324Draw18–1–3 Herbert Maori SladePTS3Oct, 188323Win18–1–2 Herbert Maori SladeKO?Sep 18, 188322ND17–1–2 Billy LynnND4Jul 8, 18832117–1–2 Denis Ike HayesND4Jul 6, 188320Win17–1–2 DavisKO1 (?)Jul, 188319Win16–1–2 GarrettKO1 (?)Jun, 188318Loss15–1–2 John L. SullivanTKO3 (?)May 14, 188317Win15–0–2 Mike ClearyTKO3 (?)Apr 9, 188316Win14–0–2 Jack ClarkeTKO1 (?)Feb 17, 188315Win13–0–2 Joe StubbinsPTS3Dec 23, 188214Win12–0–2 W. HealPTS3Dec 23, 188213Win11–0–2 Dick RobertsPTS3Dec 23, 188212Win10–0–2 Bill SpringhallPTS3Dec 22, 188211Win9–0–2 Bill EnglandPTS3Dec 21, 188210Win8–0–2 George CoxPTS3Dec 21, 18829Win7–0–2 Roger WallisPTS?May, 18828Win6–0–2 Bill HarnettyPTS4Apr 3, 18827Win5–0–2 Pat CondonPTS3Mar 29, 18826Draw4–0–2 Tom TullyPTS6May 16, 18815Win4–0–1 W. CaradoffPTS4Feb 1, 18814Draw3–0–1 Young Bill KennedyPTS?Jan, 18793Win3–0 Chelsea PrideKO2 (?)Mar, 18772Win2–0 HutchinsonPTS?Feb, 18771Win1–0 Andy GrayPTS?Jan, 1877

References

External links

CBZ page