'Tattoo' Tom Mitchell Returns to Patriot Center May 2 Fighting in Daughter's Memory!

Centreville, VA featherweight "Tattoo" Tom Mitchell will return to the ring in a four-round rematch against DC's Yieta Johnson as part of the Saturday, May 2 ICE Promotions card at the George Mason University Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA.

Mitchell said he never intended to step back into the boxing ring after his second-round TKO loss to Johnson on November 1. The bout helped raise $7,000 towards research to fight cancer. Mitchell's daughter, Shayla (who had stage 3 Hodgkin's disease) lost her fight with cancer on January 28 at the age of 18.

According to Mitchell, Shayla -- who accompanied her father to the ring in November -- remains a big inspiration and that led to Johnson preparing for a rematch.

"One of the last things my daughter said to me before she passed away was ’Am I still brave Dad?’ “After she died I asked myself the same question,” said Mitchell, who plans to have several special guests accompany him to ring this time around.

Just like last time, the promoter has agreed to donate one-third of all of Mitchell’s personal tickets sales plus his entire fight purse to Growing Hope, a local 501(c) charitable organization. ICE Promotions presented the non-profit group with a check for over $7,000 as result of Mitchell’s efforts.

Inside the ring, Mitchell is working just as hard with the Alexandria Boxing Club (ABC) and trainers Dennis Porter and Kay Koroma who have generously donated their time and expertise to help prepare him for this bout. Johnson, meanwhile, who has expressed compassion for Mitchell’s plight especially as a father of three, still plans to go all out to win the rematch and not hold back against his opponent.

For information about Mitchell’s quest, including details on special events being planned and a regular journal that the fighter pens to his daughter, log onto www.stillbrave.com.

Great Falls, VA junior middleweight Jimmy Lange headlines this show, fighting in a 12-round contest against "Dangerous" Ryan Davis for the WBC USNBC Junior Middleweight title.