It will be perhaps the biggest night of the British boxing calendar so far when Kevin Mitchell tops the bill against Michael Katsidis in East London before Amir Khan looks to continue his progression when facing Paulie Malignaggi in New York.
The number of ‘world’ title belts currently doing the rounds in modern boxing is responsible for chasing away many potential followers and can also be confusing to even the most avid of fight fans. When popular Eastender Kevin Mitchell shares the Upton Park canvas with Australian hard man Michael Katsidis however the prize won’t be given a second thought. It is two brave warriors at the peak of their physical strengths, giving the public exactly what they want to see.
The less said about Mitchell’s December win over Breidis Prescott the better, in my opinion. It is time for the British public to get over the ‘Khan Conqueror’ after he was proven to be the one dimensional fighter he is, with little more than a horse shoe in his glove. He gave ''The Hammer' very little to think about in Newcastle that night and once it became obvious he wasn’t going to land his bomb early, it was one-way traffic. What that bout did prove however was that veteran trainer Jimmy Tibbs has taken a solid, gung-ho scrapper in Mitchell and transformed him into an intelligent prizefighter with the world at his feet.
In Michael Katsidis, Mitchell faces his toughest test to date and if the die-hard West Ham United fan lets the occasion of boxing on his beloved club's turf get to him, and he adopts that do-or-die attitude that saw him scrape past Carl Johanneson in an attempt to impress the crowd, then he will make the short journey back to Dagenham with his career in tatters.
Mitchell has proven that he possesses a shrewd boxing brain however and I imagine Jimmy Tibbs will instruct his prized asset to remain as calm and elusive as possible during the opening stanza, when Katsidis will be at his most dangerous.
Both of these fighters know that they possess the power to hurt the other, so there will be an unspoken respect shared. When big bangers come to blows they generally avoid loading up in the fear that they will leave themselves open to a career ending counter. Both are experienced professionals and wouldn’t dream of throwing caution to the wind on the big stage, meaning the 8/13 from Skybet about this bout passing the 8.5 round mark looks like a sensible option.
Kevin Mitchell has been well looked after and I believe the time is right for him to take this gamble, and punters can trust the Brit‘s 4/6 price tag (Boylesports).
On such a big occasion, with patriotism sure to run high, players should keep their stakes small and have an eye out for any value offered during the ‘In Play’ market as I don’t believe the eventual winner will have it all his own way from first bell to last.
