Kevin Mitchell

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 14 May 2004, 07:45

Last nights fight really made me think.

Has Mitchell really learnt anything since turning pro?

He has had 7 very easy fights over the last year. 5 of which were 1st round stoppages. As soon as he spoke about stepping up his level of competition last night, allegedly was quick to step in and suggest that Mitchell will continue to take things slowly for the foreseeable future. I guess i can't really disagree with that because he's still only a kid.

My point is, this is an Olympic year. Considering his career to date, would Mitchell have been better off staying in the amateur ranks and trying to qualify for Athens?

My belief is that, given his obvious amateur pedigree, he would have qualified, and may have been in with a chance of gaining himself a medal. Even if he was to fall short, at least he would be fighting a better standard of opponent.
Had he gone to Athens, he would be still only 20, but would have been exposed to a much wider audience. This would, of course, up the expectation placed on him, but would also up his earning power. To me the pros of getting an Olympic medal far outway the cons. It just seems like a strange one to me.

Any thoughts?

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 14 May 2004, 07:48

his decision to turn Pro was purley about MONEY.....
he was fighting better guys in the London NE Divs two years ago

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 14 May 2004, 07:53

Yes he would have been much better off staying amateur, his stint in the Pro ranks has so far taught him absolutely nothing.

steve richards · Post by **steve richards** » 14 May 2004, 07:57

Totally agree, Mitchell will end up with a record like Hattons, who i think is talented but 35-0 is IMO bullshit, The trouble is it's all about money, Mitchell will earn big money and will be filling York hall in the next 12 months, he takes a few hundred now, if he steps up and gets beaten they loose £££££, if he stays and fights 5-6 times a year or more if they are 1st round ko's, Warren earns, Mitchell earns etc, he sould go for the southern area title or Englist super feather title.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 14 May 2004, 08:01

I think you've hit the nail Steve, i have been saying he is the next hometown Hatton for ages and he is building his own little MEN arena in London for his WBU defenses.

steve richards · Post by **steve richards** » 14 May 2004, 08:11

steve689 wrote:I think you've hit the nail Steve, i have been saying he is the next hometown Hatton for ages and he is building his own little MEN arena in London for his WBU defenses.

It's a shame, if he earns as much as Hatton he will be a happy camper

, going 50-0 and never being tested aint the best move but if you look at the earning potential, he's proberbly doing 5-10k now per fight, Hatton's maybe 500k, their aint no reason to step up.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 14 May 2004, 08:25

Ian Darke was bang out of order last night, refusing to mention the fact the Frenchman had never won a fight, referring to Mitchell as a "sensation", citing allegedly's claim that Mitchell is the most exciting London talent since Nigel Benn (what!!) and making a big deal out of his series of first round wins.
This guy has fought opponents who could make anyone look good. Until he knocks over more proven opponents, I reserve judgement.

dr_hook · Post by **dr_hook** » 14 May 2004, 08:26

Warren said the french guy hasn't been stopped before!

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 14 May 2004, 08:30

dr_hook wrote:Warren said the french guy hasn't been stopped before!

I know, and at that point the interviewer should have said, "but he's never won a fight, either." Warren's got the Sky boys in his pocket.
Incidentally, had this guy been stopped?

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 14 May 2004, 08:32

Another impressive finish but another unipressive opponent.

Stick Mitchell in with Kent's Rob Jeffries.

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 14 May 2004, 08:33

According to boxrec he has

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 14 May 2004, 08:37

bennie wrote:Incidentally, had this guy been stopped?

He should have been stopped alright... by customs and sent back home for a breach of the trade descriptions act

steve richards · Post by **steve richards** » 14 May 2004, 08:37

REAL_DEAL wrote:According to boxrec he has

Warren must have missed that one when he looked at the guy's record

, Has the opposition gone a little to shite since philip Fondu has stopped sending victims :

, sorry boxers over.

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 14 May 2004, 08:38

I think mitchell is reading to box for a area title, Maloney said these were learning fights on FW radio, whats he going to learn from these fights?

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 14 May 2004, 08:40

He learn's the Sports Network guide to Boxing clever and avoiding meaningful fights while making a wad of cash in the process.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 14 May 2004, 08:42

allegedly lies like a cheap Seiko watch.

steve richards · Post by **steve richards** » 14 May 2004, 08:45

steve689 wrote:He learn's the Sports Network guide to Boxing clever and avoiding meaningful fights while making a wad of cash in the process.

Good call, F****n politics in boxing are they all f****n mad, You've got Warren protecting fighters/investments, Hearn hyping his fighters, and Henessey sending them to the slaughter :P it don't get any better than this.

Southpaw Stylist · Post by **Southpaw Stylist** » 14 May 2004, 08:54

He's dumb, I defo would have tried to qualify for the Olympics. A good fght would be him against Amir Khan, though I think Khan would have pissed all over him.

knockout artist · Post by **knockout artist** » 14 May 2004, 09:01

glittermonkey wrote:Last nights fight really made me think.

Has Mitchell really learnt anything since turning pro?

He has had 7 very easy fights over the last year. 5 of which were 1st round stoppages. As soon as he spoke about stepping up his level of competition last night, allegedly was quick to step in and suggest that Mitchell will continue to take things slowly for the foreseeable future. I guess i can't really disagree with that because he's still only a kid.

My point is, this is an Olympic year. Considering his career to date, would Mitchell have been better off staying in the amateur ranks and trying to qualify for Athens?

My belief is that, given his obvious amateur pedigree, he would have qualified, and may have been in with a chance of gaining himself a medal. Even if he was to fall short, at least he would be fighting a better standard of opponent.
Had he gone to Athens, he would be still only 20, but would have been exposed to a much wider audience. This would, of course, up the expectation placed on him, but would also up his earning power. To me the pros of getting an Olympic medal far outway the cons. It just seems like a strange one to me.

Any thoughts?

Exactly, if he is too young to be moved along he should have stayed amatuer.

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 14 May 2004, 10:34

knockout artist wrote: Exactly, if he is too young to be moved along he should have stayed amatuer.

Totally agree.

The silly thing is that a successful Olympics campaign would have seen his marketability rocket anyway, there is always an interest in Olympic medallists....

And if he didn't make the semis then he could have just turned pro regardless and it would have made no difference to his earning potential IMO...

adamiw · Post by **adamiw** » 14 May 2004, 10:38

he's only learned that he can get away with stuff, and bad habits will appear, and become hard to eliminate by the time he finally steps up.

Her's learnt almost nothiung in the actual fights, although he has shown slight improvements from his earlier fights, down to stuff that he's done in the gym.

But he must start to step up soon.

Lefthookhappy19 · Post by **Lefthookhappy19** » 14 May 2004, 11:59

That commentary was awful last night. They never once mentioned the guys record before during or after the fight. I can't believe I was reading about this guy last year when he first turned pro on major boxing web sites. You'd think he was second coming of Ray Robinson the hype he is getting. The commentators have obviously been instructed to hype him as much as possible, its sickening to listen to.

Something tells me this kid is going down the first time he gets tagged on the chin, which won't be long if he steps up in class which will be VERY long. His record is going to be far more padded than Hattons I think.

Solway · Post by **Solway** » 18 May 2004, 07:12

From what i can remember, the reason he turned pro was becuase the England team were a load of rubish & constanly chose the northern boys over him or would only give him 3 days notice for a fight because their fav boy had pulled out! They also paid the nothern lads but he never got a penny off them & i think just generally lost respect for the England squad (think i read it in some newspaper when he turned pro)! I say good luck to the lad! From the look of his amauter record he can take a few on the chin! Think you all need to give him a break & see what he can achieve before putting him down!

buzz · Post by **buzz** » 18 May 2004, 07:36

Lets hope he has got a good chin coz his defence is shocking. As soon as he gets in with someone who can punch he will have to tighten up quite a bit.

He's only young and i'm sure he will learn but I feel his cockyness will just make people want to see him get beat, however this sells just look at Naz.

All this aside good luck to him and everyone else who climbs through them ropes.

J · Post by J » 18 May 2004, 08:03

buzz wrote:Lets hope he has got a good chin coz his defence is shocking. As soon as he gets in with someone who can punch he will have to tighten up quite a bit.

He's only young and i'm sure he will learn but I feel his cockyness will just make people want to see him get beat, however this sells just look at Naz.

All this aside good luck to him and everyone else who climbs through them ropes.

nice post agreed. Kids only 19 guys while I agree he should at some point step up and a longer stint in the amateurs may have assisted, didnt harm baraerra did it (im not saying mitchell is the second coming) just that if he wants to gthe pro route then why not?

Ok sky are hyping him thats not his fault, to me he looks a good decent prospect and be nice if us brits could get behind one of charges instead of slagging them off all the time.

Kevin Mitchell

Kevin Mitchell

Re: Kevin Mitchell

Re: Kevin Mitchell