by James Slater – Fresh off the biggest win of his now 30-fight pro career, 25-year-old lightweight contender Kevin Mitchell is thinking big. With his dominant points win over Bredis Prescott on Saturday, the Dagenham warrior became the mandatory challenger for the WBO 135-pound crown currently held by Juan Manuel Marquez (with the Mexican expected to fight up at 140 in his next outing, thus making current interim champ Michael Katsidis the full champion). And Mitchell, 30-0(22) said at the port-fight press conference in Newcastle that he wants to face the exciting Australian and then hopefully land a huge fight with his friend, Amir Khan..
Having proven he is a strong lightweight, a weight where he has also maintained his speed of hand and foot, Mitchell must be given a real shot at beating the hard-hitting but somewhat wild Katsidis. And as for the Khan fight, though that will be a whole different ballgame in comparison, Mitchell said he would be more than willing to move up in weight again, to light-welterweight.
Mitchell spoke post-fight about how much he has matured as a fighter at age 25, and how the Prescott fight would have been a different fight had he met the Colombian when he was a few years younger.
“If I’d fought Prescott when I was a boy of 20, it would have been a very hard fight,” Mitchell said. “But I’m a man of 25 now and I kept my head, kept to my game-plan, and I broke his heart.”
When asked about Prescott’s fearsome right hand, Mitchell admitted he felt it at times during the 12-rounder.
“It was a hard punch,” he said, his left eye swollen underneath as a result of the shots Prescott did manage to get home with. “But I out-boxed him and did what I had to do. I knew I couldn’t revert back to my old self and have a war with him. I think tonight was the best I’ve ever boxed. Now I want to fight for the [WBO] world lightweight title, and then I’d like to have a massive all-British fight with Amir Khan.”
Mitchell also spoke of how his friend Khan gave him some pre-fight advice on how to handle the man who famously knocked him out in just 54-seconds last year. Now one of the hottest commodities in British boxing, Mitchell, if he were to beat Katsidis and then Khan, would become one of the hottest fighters in the world!
And, with all due respect to 29-year-old Katsidis, 26-2(21), I think Mitchell could well put on another hit-and-move display of class boxing against him, similar to the one he gave us on Saturday evening. Not as big a puncher as Prescott, if a better all-rounder, “The Great” would, in my opinion, have as hard a time nailing Mitchell flush as Prescott had. I for one never thought the sometimes hot-headed former super-featherweight champion – who has said his best qualities have been showing how good he is “in the trenches,” and “while going to war” – would be able to box the near perfect and superbly controlled fight he did in Newcastle.
As long as he keeps his head and doesn’t revert back to the old Kevin Mitchell, the 25-year-old would be able to out-point Katsidis and become world champion. This fight has to happen for Mitchell, too – as he is the WBO mandatory. The Khan fight, however, could well take a lot longer to come to fruition. Simply put, right now everyone from Zab Judah to Juan Manuel Marquez to Ricky Hatton to Floyd Mayweather has been suggested as a possible future foe for the 23-year-old. Mitchell, as good as he is, could well have to wait his turn in a very long line.
But a win over Katsidis, and the title it would bring, could see to it that Mitchell gets his dream fight.