By Scott Gilfoid: After deep thought and research into this fight, I think I’ve nailed down what Kevin Mitchell’s fight strategy will be on Saturday night against the knockout artist WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis (26-2, 21 KO’s). Mitchell has said that he plans on going to war with Katsidis, but I think that’s a bunch of malarkey. Either Mitchell is saying that to throw off Katsidis or he telling the truth and will be looking to trade with Katsidis. But come fight time, I think it will amount to the same thing when Mitchell takes a royal beating from Katsidis. Basically, Mitchell is just too slow, too frail and too limited to beat a talented fighter like Katsidis. That’s just the way it is.

Mitchell may want to stand and trade with Katsidis to try and impress all his fans that will be showing up at Upton Park to see him fight, but I think Mitchell will be running for the hills once he gets hit a few times. I think the fight will then be one of the most boring fights within memory, as Mitchell runs to save his hide. It will be awful to watch and I don’t know how Mitchell will be able to win under those circumstances and I expect Mitchell to lose almost every round, except for perhaps a mercy round or two.

But what gets me is after all that talking from Mitchell and all his bellyaching about wanting to make the same kind of money that Amir Khan is making, Mitchell will pretty much prove why he’s not as popular as Khan or as well paid by fighting a boring fight. Say what you will about Khan for having a weak chin, most of his fights are usually quite entertaining. Even Khan’s 1st round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott was an entertaining fight, because Khan went out trying to trade with Prescott. That isn’t what Mitchell did in his fight with Prescott. He ran like no tomorrow for 12 rounds, staying away from Prescott, winning an ugly fight and then crowing about it afterwards.

I saw Prescott winning a lopsided fight by 9 rounds to 3. Mitchell won the fight, but he won it ugly at home in front of a large British audience in Newcastle. On Saturday night, Mitchell will again be fighting in front of a large British crowd, but the difference here is that Katsidis is going to be forcing Mitchell to fight him. He won’t let Mitchell run like a chicken with his head cut off and will force him to stand and trade or else get knocked out. It won’t work.

Mitchell will get caught over and over again and will get the stuffing beaten out of him. Mitchell’s face will look like hamburger with ketchup poured all over it by the time this fight is over. It’s going to be really messy. Mitchell says he’s hungry, that he wants to make the big money like Khan, but it won’t matter. Talent, in most cases, wins out over hunger. All it will mean is that Mitchell will probably take way more punishment that he should until he’s ultimately stopped by Katsidis.