2 of my favorites! I think Nelson was just a little bit better. This would be a fun fight and one of my favorite hypotheticals. Close decision
Nelson is clearly the greater fighter in terms of resume. That isn't for lack of trying on Mitchell's part; he was active, consistent, and willing to fight anywhere. But he just never got the great wins that set Nelson's resume apart. The downside to the Professor was his tendancy to 'admire his own work' as Teddy Atlas says. He was prone to let rounds slip by without doing much. This tendency became more pronounced the longer his career went by. By the time he was in his rivalry with JJ Leija, he'd turned patience into a vice. That's kind of crazy, given that he first emerged giving Salvador Sanchez hell fight with that breakneck urgency.
I have to pick Nelson, who sways me with the deeper wins and performances. However, I have a feeling this would be close on the cards.
I'll go with Mitchell in the upset. The guy sure had a way of winning---a skill seldom acknowledged. That and I think this would be one of those times, like funny man ahead said, that Nelson kind of goes through the motions. I also think he was far more susceptible to get into that when facing a boxer. A slugger or guy trying to punch hard and stop him, brings out the best in Azumah. But I think he is vulnerable to a guy with a style like Mitchells that picks and pecks and does not ever exchange. Good thinking man's fight and decision bout all the way. If one guy falls back like 3 rounds, neither opponent will let the other back into the fight.
