It didn't take long for Kostya Tzsyu to put an exclamation mark on his long-awaited return to the ring and to the top of the junior welterweight division.

Tzsyu showed why he's rated number one in the world of 140-pounders by Ring magazine as he took full advantage of the crippling power he possesses in both hands to dismantle Sharmba Mitchell in the third round at the Glendale Arena in Glendale, Arizona last night.

Mitchell, 34, had been waiting for this rematch ever since a knee injury forced him to quit in the 7th round of their first fight in 2002. Tzsyu, 35, had been sidelined for twenty-two months with injuries to his Achille's heel and left shoulder, but questions about his inactivity versus Mitchell's busy eight-fight schedule were quickly put to rest.

In the first round, Mitchell used angles, constant movement and speed to land outland the slower Tzsyu. Like Felix Trinidad in his comeback against Mayorga last month, Tzsyu looked unsure of himself in the first three minutes of the fight, which I scored for Mitchell.

Then in round 2, a left hook and a right hand put Mitchell on the canvas. Another left hook near the end of the round sent Mitchell wobbling back, and it was clear from that moment that Tzsyu, who was finding his mark quite early in the fight, would not need a full twelve rounds to overwhelm Mitchell.

In the third and final round, Mitchell was blasted to the canvas again by a straight-as-an-arrow right hand. Then, as he covered up against the ropes, Tszyu, ever the consummate professional, ripped Mitchell with two hooks to the body before going upstairs and putting him down again. Mitchell rose, but another massive attack by Tzsyu floored him a third time, and the referee stopped the fight. Unlike their first encounter which was highly competitive, Mitchell was never in this fight.

After the fight, Tzsyu told Showtime's sometimes obnoxious Jim Grey that he would fight any big names, he didn't care who. "Vicious" Vivian Harris, a potential Tzsyu opponent, came into the ring to congratulate the Russian and court a possible future matchup, but big money fights against Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather or Arturo Gatti are probably more what Tzsyu has in mind.