Heavyweight Seth Mitchell Returns On October 6th
by Gautham Nagesh
As Anna mentioned earlier, Brandywine, Md. heavyweight Seth Mitchell will make his return on October 6th in Atlantic City against Johnathon Banks of Detroit.
We’ve got love for any fighter from the D, but Banks is viewed strictly as a stepping stone to bigger things for Mitchell, like an eventual title shot against the Klitschkos. I spoke to Seth about a week ago, and he sounded happy to be back in the gym. Mitchell only recently returned to punching after hurting his hand during his thrilling April stoppage of Chazz Witherspoon. Fortunately, the injury required three months of rest but no surgery.
Mitchell doesn’t know much about the Detroiter, but after Witherspoon hurt him in the first, Seth is aware that any heavyweight can pull the upset.
“I think it might be a little step up. Each fight is going to present different challenges and different obstacles,” Mitchell told Stiff Jab, emphasizing that he hated every minute of what has been his longest layoff from boxing due to injury.[[MORE]]
“It feels like I’ve been out of the ring for a year or so, I don’t like that. I like to fight.”
Mitchell is satisfied with his progress and confident that he is ready today for anyone in the heavyweight division, save the Klitschkos. Seth believes he’s still about three fights away from challenging one of the brothers for a world title, but in the meantime he’s looking to take on contenders after taking care of Banks. Banks is no soft touch, having lost only once to Tomasz Adamek by stoppage, but he’s not world-class.
Mitchell has shown patience with regard to his career, but he’s not trying to wait out heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko. Seth said he’s seen no signs of slippage from the champ, and remains impressed by the Ukrainian’s balance, power, speed and ring generalship.
“I don’t think he’s lost anything. He’d still be good at 40,” Mitchell said of Wlad.
He’s similarly impressed by some of the young British heavyweights that have been gaining hype across the pond.
“I’ve seen [Dereck] Chisora, I’ve seen Tyson Fury, I haven’t seen David Price, except one or two fights on YouTube. But I’ve seen Tyson Fury in action, he’s a good heavyweight, that fight is very possible” for the future, Mithell said, acknowledging the fan interest in such match-ups.
Mitchell has shown better boxing ability in each of his recent fights, and a left hook capable of devastation when he puts all his weight behind it. Banks has seen his weight go up and down in rather alarming fashion over his past few fights, a worrying trend. There’s no telling what will happen in the ring, but we expect Mitchell to roll to another impressive win on HBO.
Lightweight contender Adrien Broner of Cincinnati is expected to be the co-headliner, once a suitable opponent is found. We are big on both Mitchell and Broner, so expect us at ringside to bring you all the action. We’ll have more on Seth’s preparation as we get closer to the fight.