MIAMI - Richard Hall dampened Byron Mitchell's comeback with a fourth-round technical knockout Wednesday night.

Hall, from Jamaica, hurt Mitchell with a left to the head in the first round and nearly finished him with additional shots to the head in the second.

Mitchell, a two-time WBA super-middleweight champion who's been inactive since June 2003, survived Hall's early attack with a strong third round.

But Hall proved why he has one of boxing's best knockout rates when he stunned Mitchell with a solid left to the head. He followed Mitchell to the ropes and continued with additional combinations to the head.

Mitchell, of Ozark, Ala., held onto Hall as his knees hit the canvas but Frank Gentile prevented Mitchell from additional harm and stopped the bout at 2:15 of the first.

"When I looked in his eyes, I knew that he felt my shots," Hall said of the first-round knockdown. "I knew he was going to fight back. Boxing is a hit game. If you want to be good, you know you are going to get hit."

Mitchell won his first WBA title in 1999, stopping Frankie Liles in 11 rounds. After retaining his belt with a draw against Bruno Girard the following year, Mitchell lost the title in an immediate rematch.

In 2001, Mitchell scored a 12th-round technical knockout over Manny Siaca for his second WBA belt. Mitchell lost the title two years later in a close decision against Sven Ottke for the unified WBA and WBC titles. Mitchell weighed 178 pounds while Hall weighed 180.