By James Slater: Fans are buzzing about unbeaten 29-year-old heavyweight contender Seth Mitchell right now (myself included). Fresh off his impressive, important stoppage win over the previously unstopped Timur Ibragimov, “Mayhem” sure has a bright future.
Now in a position to be moved towards facing the top-rated guys of the heavyweight division, Team-Mitchell must keep the momentum going. Mitchell is still a work in progress, therefore he shouldn’t be moved too fast too soon, yet at the same time he must not go backwards.
Here, in no particular order, I list five fighters who I think would make great opponents for Mitchell, 24-0-1(18) in the coming months:
1: Michael Grant. Grant, 48-4(36) is big, powerful and experienced. Coming off stoppage wins over Tye Fields and, last time out, Frans Botha, the 39-year-old veteran would be a perfect test for the emerging Mitchell.
2: Franklin Lawrence. Lawrence, 17-2-2(12) is a dangerous fighter who is capable of asking most any fighter a few tough questions. A fringe contender, the 36-year-old has enjoyed some fine form recently (wins over Jason Estrada and Lance Whitaker) and he would give Mitchell a decent test.
3: Samuel Peter. Peter, 34-5(27) has been on the downside as of late (stoppage losses to Wladimir Klitschko, which was expected, and to Robert Helenuis last time out), yet “The Nigerian Nightmare” remains a hard puncher who can always be dangerous. If Mitchell were to take a shot or two from the 31-year-old and come on to win, we would have a better idea about how good “Mayhem’s” chin is.
4: Monte Barrett. Barrett, 35-9-2(20) is as experienced as they come, and the 40-year-old known as “Two Gunz” has recently given his career a shot in the arm by way of a points win over David Tua. Barrett is aiming higher than facing a prospect (Monte reportedly wants a shot at a Klitschko), but if the money were right, who knows, maybe Barrett would agree to face Mitchell. The young fighter would probably learn a few things if he fought Barrett.
5: Tyson Fury. This one is unlikely to happen seeing as how both heavies are young, promising talents. Still, Fury, 17-0(12) against Mitchell would certainly prove a huge hit with the fans. A risky fight for both, the winner would earn more fans, while the loser would be young enough to be able to come again. Fury is set to have his U.S debut next spring, it would be great if the managers of both fighters agreed to this match-up.