Jorge Linares
With the IBF title opportunity gone astray, Mitchell went a different route in 2015. On 31 January, he faced Daniel Estrada for the vacant WBC Silver lightweight title. In what was described as a career-best performance, Mitchell showcased his boxing skills with renewed motivation en route to stopping Estrada in eight rounds. This set up a second world title opportunity for Mitchell, this time against WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares. Their fight took place on 30 May and got off to a cagey start, with neither fighter winning any rounds convincingly. In round five, Mitchell scored a hard knockdown, allowing him to build up a lead on the scorecards and box with increasing confidence. However, Linares scored a knockdown of his own in round ten, which quickly signalled the end of the fight as Mitchell's eye had been badly cut from a punch, forcing the referee to wave off the fight.