By William Mackay: Undefeated lightweight contender Kevin Mitchell (31-0, 23 KO’s) is hoping to get by his opponent WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis (26-2, 21 KO’s) this Saturday night so that he can challenge the full World Boxing Organization lightweight champion 36-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO’s) in the near future. There had been hope that Marquez would vacate his WBO title, which would allow Mitchell to fight for the vacant title against one of the top lightweights in the WBO.
However, Marquez has decided to hold onto his WBO title for now and will be defending it against former lightweight champion Juan Diaz in two months on July 31st at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s unclear if Marquez will choose to hold onto the WBO title, if he gets by Diaz, in the future. But if he does, then he could be seeing either Mitchell or Katsidis next. Marquez was beaten by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a one-sided loss last September when Marquez moved up in weight to welterweight for a big money fight.
Some boxing fans feel that Marquez slipping as a fighter based on how he looked against Mayweather. However, Mayweather would likely make almost any fighter look bad right now. He’s fighting at too high of a level for most of his opponents and is able to easily dominate them. Marquez would be a very difficult opponent for a young fighter like Mitchell.
The British lightweight would probably attempt to move, use fakes and other such tactics against Marquez, but it’s all old stuff for him. Mitchell really would likely be in way over his head in a fight against Marquez and unless he ran away all night long, he will probably get beaten up and stopped by the Mexican star. It will still be a good experience and an excellent payday for Mitchell when/if the time comes for a fight against Marquez. But I’m not giving him much of any chance against him.
Comments are closed.