Heavyweight Seth Mitchell Shows Sparty Some Love
by Gautham Nagesh
Just got back from the media workout at Kennedy Recreation Center for this weekend’s HBO Championship Boxing card in Washington, where I spoke briefly with rising heavyweight boxer Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell. Many believe Mitchell is America’s best shot at re-capturing the heavyweight championship, but today the talk was focused on his beloved Michigan State Spartans.
The Brandywine, Md. native stopped by the packed Capitol Lounge on Saturday night to join his fellow MSU fans and alumni in cheering for the Spartans but it wasn’t enough as they lost the inaugural Big Ten championship game to Wisconsin 42-39. Mitchell was judicious when discussing the defeat, avoiding the sour grapes that we Michigan fans normally associate with East Lansing alums.
“Yeah they should have called [the penalty]…if it was against Michigan State I would have wanted them to call it,” Mitchell said in reference to the 4th-quarter running into the kicker penalty incurred by MSU’s Isaiah Lewis, which negated a punt return into Wisconsin territory by Keshawn Martin and ultimately wound up cost MSU the game.
He also refused to complain about the Wolverines jumping Sparty to earn a shot in the BCS, crediting Michigan for its performance during the Big Ten regular season. But if there’s anyone that could be excused for giving MSU the benefit of the doubt, it’s the 29-year-old Mitchell. He lead the Spartans in tackles as a middle linebacker in 2003 as a redshirt sophomore and was a preseason All-Big Ten selection going into his junior year. Unfortunately injuries plagued him from that point on and he was forced to hang up his cleats before the 2005 season.
Despite giving up football Mitchell still completed his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in four years and graduated before returning home to Maryland. That’s where he caught the boxing bug while watching former Notre Dame and current Baltimore Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski make his professional boxing debut on TV. Since then Mitchell has amassed a record of 23-0-1 with 17 KOs, sparking buzz that he could be the next big thing in the heavyweight division.
Having participated in both sports at high levels, Mitchell is insistent that boxing takes a unique type of courage and conditioning. He vividly described the nervousness and fear that preceded his early fights, emotions he says he never experienced before taking the gridiron. On Tuesday he looked fit and ready for his Saturday night bout against Uzbek veteran Timor Ibragimov, clearly his toughest test to date.
We’ll have more on that fight later this week along with pictures from today’s workout. The weigh-in will be open to the public on Friday Afternoon at the Carnegie Library across from the Convention Center. Doors open at 2 p.m.