Saturday night at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London, England, interim WBA World lightweight champion Ismael Barroso (19-0-2, 18 KOs), the southpaw from Tigre, Venezuela, successfully defended his title by stopping Kevin Mitchell (39-4, 29 KOs), from Dagenham, Essex, UK, at 2:47 of round five.

It was Mitchell’s second loss in two fights, the first was to Jorge Linares in May, and his title hopes look increasingly dim after last night’s shellacking.

Barroso took charge of the fight at the opening bell. He cornered Mitchell in round three and dropped him in the fourth.

In round five Barroso put him down a second time. Mitchell got to his feet but was defenseless. Rather than allow the slaughter to continue, referee Howard Foster waved it off.

Mitchell was hoping to fight WBA World lightweight champion Anthony Crolla in an all-British affair. But that fight, along with his dreams of future fights in lights, was contingent on beating Barroso.

Crolla was sitting ringside and watched the hard-hitting Venezuelan with interest.

“We all knew that Barroso come with a reputation of a huge puncher,” he said, “and it shown in there tonight. He caught Kevin with a great shot and he couldn’t quite recover. But he’s more than a puncher. He judges distance well, put the shots together well, and when he hurt Kevin he didn’t let him off the hook.”

Ismael Barroso is a beast in the ring, but this beast can do beautiful things with his fists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EriN9q549XY

This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.