It is a little sad, but why rush Kev? He is only 26 and Tibbs will improve him if he is given time to do it. The Murray fight was a good comeback win, but theres still a lot to be done. Give him a few 10 rounders against meaningful opponents, maybe rack in an ABC belt and build him up, as Rob said. The fact is, even with the Murray win, ge isn't ready for the big names yet. In a year or two he just might be
Not sure about that. Quite a few of his wins are over guys on Murray's and Mitchell's level. The loss to Soto was razor-thin, which suggests a better fighter than Mitchell has shown himself to be. Remember, his first step to world-class and he got brutalised.
Yeah but Mitchell was coming off a 14 month lay off after having a year full of problems. People only give him no chance because of the Katsidis loss when its obvious he wasnt right heading into it. Soon as a guy loses hes automatically wrote off,same thing happened to Amir Khan when he was destroyed by a garbage fighter in 54 seconds.
I think 'Brutalised' is a bit of an exaggeration tbh. Hatton/Pac was brutal,up until Mitchell got stopped it was an even fight even if it was only three rounds Then we all saw Katsidis have JMM in trouble in the second round when he fought him,if the Mexican wasnt such a tough ******* he too would have been finished by Katsidis.
I agree that he needs development. I just dont like the idea of a fighter claiming theyre a champion when they basically inherit a title. If he wants a belt I think he should be fighting top contenders. Id say the same for any fighter. I like Kevin and was glad to see him get back on track, but he needs to step up his level of competition. I think go for someone like Rees, then David Diaz (a test but seriously fading) then DeMarco (young and decent), before aiming for a title. Youve got solid prospects/contenders like Hank Lundy who may be titlists by that time. Nothing wrong with building up, but the Murray win showed Kevin still hasnt really developed. If Murray could punch that would have ended early for Kevin.
It was not even. Katsidis had Mitchell running for dear life from the minute it started. As soon as Michael landed the fight was effectively over. It was the third round. And what's your point? Katsidis is a solid fighter. No one's saying that Kevin lost to a bum or something. What I'm saying is that Michael is fringe-world class and he flattened Kevin. JMM is an elite. He stood his ground with the Aussie and beat the **** out of him. He didn't run, he didn't panic and he certainly didn't lie on the ropes and take punches for the sake of it. It's like this JMM >> Katsidis >>>>>>>> Mitchell. Even a near-shot Graham Earl lasted longer than Mitchell did against Katsidis.
maybe ****** realises that there is always going to be trouble somewhere down the line with mitchell, so hes cashing the chips in?
I agree with everything apart from your last point. I can remember Kev getting hit twice in the 2nd, then after that Murry didn't really catch him. On re-watching the fight, Kev was ducking and weaving the shots well. The problem for Murray isn't his punching power, it was his lack of variety in his work (ie not going to the body).
Rios is the real deal. Mitchell is better of getting a rematch with kats and moving to a different division.
Do you not think his problems outside the ring affected him at all?Seriously? Mitchell lost one fight and hes written off.Did you write Khan off like most people when he was destroyed by a bum in 54 seconds? Thats the thing with this sport that bothers me.A guy in this country goes unbeaten and hes criticized for fighting nobodies yet if a guy steps up and loses hes instantly written off. Kev wants this fight so hopefully Frank does get him it and he can show the whole world that he can beat the overrated Rios. Whenever an American knocks a few guys out it seems so many people get on their nuts.I still remember the hype Devon Alexander got after stopping Witter and the glorious KO of Urango and people saying crappy Kotelnik wouldnt win a round.:-(Apparently he was the real deal aswell.
I never wrote Kevin off. I dont buy the training issues either. Bull****. Great fighters prove it in the ring. Even in his best shape Michael would have beaten him. Katsidis >>>>>>> Mitchell. I didnt write Khan off cause I didnt give a **** about him. How the hell is Rios overrated? He beat Peterson till he quit, he knocked Acosta out after getting a pummelling early on, and he flattened Antillon faster than Acosta managed. Thats pretty impressive by my reckoning.
Benoit On Roids: even dismissing the Katsidis fight, the Mitchell that fought Murray was quality, but not World class.
Obviously now that mitchel has the spotlight on him he needs to build on it. A rematch with kats seems logical to me. Maybe for the vacant wbo or wbc belt. Then get him in with antillon because rios would kill mitchel.