The lightweight division is there for Mitchell’s taking!

Yup I agree. I think he should do nothing more than stay active for the time being, maybe have 2 fights before tackling an Antillon or a Vaquez. I would have liked to have seen him on their with Crolla, but obviously that's not happening.

 

Yeah he's still developing so just keeping him active and earning money and keeping him working with Jimmy will do him world of good. Plus as you say division can become weak overnight if fighters decide to move up.

 

Hurt by Murray a few times, Murray isn't a puncher at all. Katsidis is more of an accumulation puncher. That shot he landed on Marquez was the best punch of his career, he can still bang though but it didn't take too much to get rid of Kevin. Johansson had him in massive trouble at 130 but that could have been a weight issue. I'm not saying Kevin has a bad chin, he just hasn't got a good one, which he needs to become a champion at 135 imo. :good

 

Vasquez is the joker in the pack.

I don't know where this chin thing comes from. Has Kevin ever been knocked down? Agaisnt Murray he took every shot and he was still on his feet agaisnt Kats. The guy can take punishment.

 

:huh When? He hit him with a good shot in the second which troubled him. A little later in the round Murray caught him flush and he winked at his corner. Other than that, he wasnt hurt in the whole fight.

 

Mitchells chin is OK. Getting sparked by Kats and getting buzzed a couple of times in fights doesn't constitute a "**** chin" IMHO. OK, so its not cast iron but its reasonable enough.

 

The fact he wasnt dropped says allot to.

 

????? What a load of bollocks - how is his chin ****?

 

So yes then?

 

I do think Mitchell has the ability to compete at a very high level though. He is still only 25. Has only worked properly with Tibbs for 3 fights.

He will grow more into the lightweight limit, and i think he is tough enough to stick it out with anyone. Theres plenty of room for improvment but I think he has allot of talent. He puts his punches together extremtly well, his shot selection is class.

He is never going to be in the Mayweather - Pacquiao league but theres not reason why he cannot have a couple of legit world level wins on his resume before he hangs up the gloves, simular to Hatton.

 

I know I'm probably Acosta's biggest scrotum-hanger on this entire forum, but I don't think I'm being biased when I say Mitchell doesn't really have a hope against him, under the assumption that Rios didn't take a significant chunk out of Aguacerito of course, which is a very possible outcome considering Miguel is a 33 year old lightweight. But we can't just assume he's ruined, 'only as good as your last fight' and all that jazz.

Y'see, people tend to think the only world class facet to Acosta's game is his counter punching, which is what he did against both Rios and Antillon, but he can pressure like an absolute mother****er. Watch him against Paulus Moses(who, incidentally, I'd take to out box Mitchell), against a fighter with similarly fast hands and a very good jab, he knew he could box with him, but the easier route would be to break him down and close him off. He pressured so intelliently, crouched down to make the target smaller, hands held high with plenty of bobbing and weaving, he was able to manuver Moses to the ropes and then tee off with excellent combinations high and low. Unlike Murray did, he wouldn't neglect the body and try to load up on one shot, he was battering the body and then coming up and jolting him to the head. He did that for six rounds straight against a relatively proven champion, broke his heart, and stopped him in six.

My fear for Mitchell if he steps it up to world level is his footwork. If Murray's wasn't even worse, Kevin would've found himself in a world of trouble. He circles far too wide, which wears you out over the course of the fight, and often backtracks straight to the ropes. Now, he got away with that for the most part against Murray, because he was coming at Mitchell in straight lines, just following him around the ring. If Murray knew how to cut the ring off, he wouldn't have tired himself out to the extent that he did, and wouldn't have been as predictable and allowed Mitchell the opportunity to put him away.

The trio of Acosta, Katsidis and Vazquez don't do that. Acosta cuts the ring off and circles(the only time we didn't see that was in the later going against Rios, who forced him into it with his physicality as opposed to Miguel doing it himself) tightly around the opponent, I think he's a better boxer than Mitchell and could beat him by way of being aggressive and swarming him. We've already seen what Katsidis can do to him, if he makes him back himself to the ropes, which he does as a regular occuracne, he'll find himself pasted up against the ropes yet again. I'd give him more of a chance against Vazquez, who obviously lacks the variety of Acosta and the tenaciousness of Katsidis, but even still he'd probably force Mitchell to come to him, pick him off with the jab and hold him close whenever Mitchell manages to get close enough to do damage to him. Vazquez is smarter than people give him credit for as much as anything else, and I don't think Mitchell's ring IQ is particularly good, never mind on Vazquez' level.

For me, he's got to take on some frige contenders before he tries to propel himself anywhere near the pinnacle of the division. The likes of DeMarco, Zappavinga and Escobedo are all the kind of appropriate opposition as of now for him. Maybe even Moses? He's started the comeback trail and it'll be good to match two guys who've recently lost to the guys at the top, a real winner takes all clash.

 

I got the impression Frank was trying to make him the Hatton of the south. He went all out with the bill at Upton Park to draw in west ham fans (Hatton had a similar backing with man city). The only problem was, Mitchell didnt beat his Kostya Tszyu. I'm not sure whether he'll ever get that kind of support again, but Saturday was a step in the right direction for sure

 

Definately got the skills but DOES need to work on DEFENSE, without a shadow of a doubt he needs to sort that out and then maybe....
As far as John Murray is concerned he was always getting taken out far to easy to hit especially when you have someone like Mitchell in front of you who can bang with the best of them, the left hook was a fine shot..........:think

 

Kevin’s a decent fighter – got some great attributes like his punch selection, his jab and his improved head movement. But he was there for Murray to hit for much of the night – in fact, Murray was out-landing him.

I know some posters want to revise history that Mitchell was applying the wise tactics of getting beaten up to wear Murray down, but he really wasn’t. Mitchell, despite having fast feet, is a bit of a liability with his ring generalship. He was backing up onto the ropes, walking into John’s right hand, etc. This was stuff he was doing against Katsidis too, but Murray isn’t as fleet-footed or athletic as the Australian, so couldn’t make Mitchell pay.

So, keep that in mind when looking at his chances at LW as a whole division. Wanting Mitchell to take on Katsidis when he’s faded further? Pretty much sums up Kevin’s chances there. He has to hope Michael’s shot before getting back in the ring with him. Katsidis should be his next port of call if he really wants to show he’s improved.

So put a name like Acosta in with Mitchell? Crazy talk. Acosta would demolish him. Even if he’s lost a step following Rios’ impressive assault, he’s still a formidable opponent with more than enough in the tank to see off a defensive liability like Kev. He’d be setting traps constantly and, unlike Murray, he really knows how to exploit openings. Rounded offensive fighter with power and solid countering skills = bad news. What on earth can Kevin do to keep him off or control the fight?

Acosta’s got better footwork, better defence, better punch selection, more power and excellent real generalship.

But if Mitchell wants any respect these are the guys he has to face. If he takes that WBO and fights no one of any note then he’ll lose the respect I had for him coming back so impressively in a fight I felt he was losing.

 

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I just struggle to see Kevin even beating those guys due to his stylistic flaws. He’s not really a boxer and he can’t help get involved. Even the weaker guys at 135 will see nothing to worry about from his fight with Murray.