Heavyweight Seth Mitchell Keeps Grinding
by Gautham Nagesh
Heavyweight boxer Seth Mitchell is not a great interview.
Don’t get me wrong, Mitchell is one of the most gracious and accessible people, let alone athletes, I have had the privilege to interview. The rising heavyweight contender goes out of his way to make himself available to media and his fans. He’s polite, thoughtful, intelligent, erudite, humble, and conducts himself exactly how you would want your son or brother to act if they should ever find themselves on the cusp of fame, fortune, and athletic glory.
Which means he avoids boasting, preening, denigrating his opponents, making outlandish predictions or foolishly giving away his strategy or focus in the gym. Every time we speak, which has been fairly often recently, our conversations follow a pattern: Mitchell updates us on his training, talks about staying humble in the face of his rising fame, and expresses respect for his upcoming opponent (in this case, Detroit’s Johnathon Banks).
Case in point: “I’m prepared to go a hard 12 rounds. I’m expecting the best Johnathon Banks there is,” Mitchell told Stiff Jab earlier this month. “He’s coming to take away my zero, and I definitely want to protect [it].”[[MORE]]
Our most recent conversation varied slightly, since an injury to Mitchell’s right contributed to postponement of this fight. But Seth assures me his hand now feels good, after he rested it twice the six weeks recommended by his doctors. So what did Seth do while unable to use his power hand? Did he balloon up to 300 lbs. or go on an ill-advised Twitter rant? Nope, he simply stayed in the gym and worked on his left, with which he hurt his last two opponents.
At this point I usually realize that I’m not going to get anything salacious, and talk turns to Seth’s picture-perfect family (Wife Danielle, daughter Aurielle and son Seth Austin Mitchell) and his beloved Michigan State Spartans. That’s great for Mitchell and those around him, but not so helpful for a common muckraker like yours truly. We prefer the loud-mouthed tomfoolery of an Adrien Broner or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
But fight fans are less concerned. To them, Mitchell is an emerging American heavyweight, one with real punching power and world-class athleticism. That makes him a potential TV superstar, even if the networks know he’s more likely to praise his opponent’s skills than spit in their face at the weigh-in. Make no mistake, Mitchell leaves his nice-guy persona behind at the ropes. He’s a terror in the ring, and he always brings the Mayhem. Mitchell’s last two fights have been must-see TV, especially his scintillating stoppage of Chazz Witherspoon in April after being hurt in round one.
Combine Mitchell with Broner vs. Antonio DeMarco at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on November 17, and you’ve got the makings of the best boxing telecast on the East Coast this year. We’ll be there as always to follow Seth, the rare professional boxer these days that prefers to build his hype inside the ring.