Mitchell Opponent Almost Set For December 10 DC Bout; Russell Still Looking For November Opponent in Cincy!

ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael has two interesting bits of Beltway info in his weekly notebook.

It looks like undefeated Brandywine, MD heavyweight Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell has an opponent for his HBO debut on Saturday, December 10 at the Washington Convention Center on the Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson card. Pending HBO approval, Mitchell (23-0-1, 17 KO's) will battle Timur Ibragimov of Uzbekistan (30-3-1, 16 KO's) in a 10-round co-feature bout.

Ibragimov is coming off a 12-round split decision loss to former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck on December 2, 2010 in Paris, France. Ibragimov holds wins over former world champions Al Cole and Oliver McCall. One of Ibragimov's three losses was to DC heavyweight and top contender Tony Thompson who won a 10-round unanimous decision over Ibragimov at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills in February of 2007.

Meanwhile, Rafael reports that undefeated Capitol Heights, MD featherweight "Mr." Gary Russell, Jr. is still looking for an opponent for his November 26 bout in Cincinnati, OH. Undefeated 2004 Cuban Olympian Luis Franco turned down the bout and the six-figure payday that came with it. A name that is being bandied around is Philadelphia's Teon Kennedy (17-1-1, seven KO's) even though Kennedy had a tough time in his first pro loss against Alejandro Lopez. Russell (18-0, 10 KO's) will open the HBO telecast of this card. The telecast will originate in two cities, Cincinnati and Mexico City.