By Francisco Salazar

Heavyweight LaRon Mitchell dropped Mike Bissell five times en route to a third round knockout victory Friday night at the Omega Products International in Corona, California.

Mitchell improves to 16-0, with 14 KOs, while Bissell falls to 14-10, with 8 KOs.

Mitchell, a physical education teacher at a junior high school in Oakland, had not fought since October 21, when he defeated Scott Alexander by unanimous decision. Mitchell also took time off from boxing after having shoulder surgery.

Bissett, who resides in Tampa, Florida, entered the bout having won his previous four bouts.

From the opening bell, the southpaw Mitchell utilized his height and 33-pound weight advantage to rain punches down on Bissell.

Mitchell dropped Bissell four times in round two and towards the end of the round, it look like the fight was going to be stopped. Instead, the fight continued into round three, where Mitchell dropped Bissell with another right hand. Referee Jack Reiss immediately stopped the bout at 1:15.

Mitchell is a former 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials finalist and holds amateur victories over Dominic Breazeale and Donovan Dennis.

In the co-feature bout of the Thompson Boxing card, featherweight Erick Ituarte of nearby Santa Ana won a split decision over Allberto Torres.

One judge scored the bout 77-75 for Torres, while the other two judges scored the bout 78-74 in favor of Iturate, who improves to 18-1-1, with 2 KOs.

Torres, who resides in Sacramento, drops to 10-1-2, with 4 KOs.

In a clash of unbeaten junior lightweights, Giovanni Cabrera Mioletti dropped Roberto Meza (8-1, with 4 KOs) in the sixth and final round en route to a unanimous decision victory.

All three judges scored the bout 58-55 in favor of Cabrera Mioletti, who improves to 9-0, with 2 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing