ESPN Boxing

The former junior welterweight titlist had no chance against Williams, and we still are trying to figure out why this heinous mismatch was made, much less televised by HBO, which used to exercise a certain amount of quality control. We thought the "Boxing After Dark" series featured fights that both guys actually had a chance to win. HBO slots are such a precious commodity, so why did Williams get a meaningless showcase fight other than the fact that he is handled by Al Haymon, the HBO house manager?

Regardless of why the fight was made, you can't blame Williams. He did what he was supposed to do -- look sensational against a name opponent who posed no danger. Williams dropped Mitchell, also a southpaw, three times in the dominant performance, and looks like a future champion.

Mitchell is done and has been for awhile now, so can we be done with him now, please? As for Williams, he has a bright future and after the fight did what no other fighter does -- he called out welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito the same way he did after his last fight in May. Williams looms as Margarito's eventual mandatory challenger and that one has fireworks written all over it. If it happens, be assured it will be better than this junk.

Chavez won every round on all three official scorecards before he knocked White down midway through the fourth. Although White got up, he was not interested in continuing and the referee called it off. White, who some might remember getting stopped in the third round by prospect Anthony Peterson on an April "ShoBox" card, offered little against Chavez, who notched another easy win against another extraordinarily mediocre opponent. Let's hope he is forced to fight a more legitimate opponent in his next fight when he is scheduled to appear in the co-feature of HBO's Sept. 23 "Boxing After Dark" card.

Still, it must have felt good for Holyfield to score his first knockout in nine years. Yes, nine years. He hadn't stopped an opponent since beating Michael Moorer in their unification rematch in 1997. At 43, the massively diminished Holyfield is still good enough to beat guys like Bates, but if he ever goes back up to the top level of opposition, he has no chance.

Yes, Holyfield ravaged Bates, but he also took some heavy right hands that seemed to momentarily buckle him in the second round. Holyfield, stubborn as they come, insists he will win the heavyweight title again. In his delusional mind, he will fight for a belt next year and retire in 2008.

His next step might be a fight against fringe European contender Sinan Samil Sam before the end of the year. Regardless of how much of a shell Holyfield is now, he still drew more than 8,000 fans. He could draw 100,000, and it wouldn't change the fact that instead of a once dynamic and relentless champion, Holyfield has been reduced to a sad sideshow who doesn't know when enough is enough.

Facing the toughest test of his career so far, Wills -- managed by movie star Denzel Washington, who was ringside -- had some trouble with the durable and strong Salif but emerged with the hard-fought victory. It was not a pretty fight, and there was a lot of infighting, but Wills' stamina was better than Salif's, and he was able to grind it out.

Wills -- an ex-convict -- is an undefeated, American heavyweight who took a decent step up in competition. While he wasn't overly impressive, with the sorry state of the division right now, his performance was enough to make you remember his name and ask for a second look.

Ornelas was supposed to face middleweight contender Sam Soliman, but Soliman withdrew the week before the fight with a back injury. So Ornelas got Munoz instead, and the result came as no surprise.

Munoz dropped to 2-7-1 in his last 10 bouts, including losses to such notable opponents as Soliman, Hector Camacho Sr., Yory Boy Campas and Mark Suarez during the stretch.

Segura, a Mexico native, is one of several good, young flyweights who give a loaded division depth, and there is little doubt that he is on his way to a title shot. Who wouldn't want to see the exciting Segura challenge titlist Vic Darchinyan? That's a hint, Showtime.