Whether the pushes were accidental or not was never known, but Mitchell injured his knee and declared himself unable to fight on after the seventh round, giving Tszyu an unlikely type of knockout.
Tszyu defeated Ben Tackie next, in February 2003, by a twelve-round unanimous decision, to retain the unified belts.
During February 10, 2003, the managing team of Canadian boxer Arturo Gatti announced they had begun negotiations for a Tszyu-Gatti match-up (that fight failed to materialize).
[4] Initially to be fought in late 2003 in Sydney, Australia, the Tszyu-Mitchell rematch had to be postponed because Tszyu injured two tendons during training.
In addition, the fact that Mitchell's knee had also naturally become weaker after his own injury made many fans question the ability of both fighters to put on a good show in their rematch.
[6] Perhaps afraid that the fight would be stopped because of the cut and declared a technical draw, Tszyu came out of his corner for round two with a sense of urgency.
Soon after round three began, Tszyu connected with a right hand to the chin that sent Mitchell to the canvas for the second time; he landed on a sitting position.
After another quick combination of blows to the body, Mitchell fell again, and referee Cadiz, Sr. proceeded to stop the fight.