By Scott Gilfoid: It’s been five long months since the highly hyped British lightweight contender Kevin Mitchell (31-1, 23 KO’s) was humiliated by Michael Katsidis in a crushing 3rd round TKO last May, and still the 25-year-old Mitchell doesn’t have an opponent picked out for his comeback fight. You have to wonder whether the loss to Katsidis destroyed Mitchell’s confidence and has him gun shy to get back in the ring and try to fix the mistakes he made in the loss to Katsidis. Mitchell is still ranked in the top 15 in the lightweight division with the ranking of #11 IBF and #14 WBO.

However, Mitchell won’t stay there forever if he doesn’t get back in the ring and start fighting again. It’s really not surprising that Mitchell got blown out of the water by Katsidis. Mitchell had almost no experience against top level opposition going into that fight, and in the one bout where he took on a good fighter with Breidis Prescott, Mitchell ran around the ring all night long just jabbing and doing little else.

I had Prescott winning that fight by a lopsided 9 rounds to 3 score. He landed the harder shots in the fight and had Mitchell on the run from round one to the end of the fight. If you were to ask me if Mitchell was ready for a fighter like Katsidis based on how he performed against Prescott, I would have warned against this fight because I knew he would stand no chance against Katsidis. And sure enough, Mitchell looked like a schoolboy who had put on gloves for the first time against Katsidis. It was embarrassing how bad Mitchell looked.

When Katsidis turned up the heat on Mitchell in the 3rd round, Mitchell amateurishly turned his back to Katsidis and looked to be cowering as Katsidis unloaded on him. The referee stopped the fight and saved Mitchell from really getting pounded. As amateurish as Mitchell looked in that fight, I think he needs to start from the bottom and work his way back to the top. But he needs to learn how to fight properly and how to protect himself when under fire by a talented fighter like Katsidis.

Turning your back on your opponent will get Mitchell beaten up if keeps doing this in future fights. Right now, I see Mitchell as a 2nd tier lightweight. I think he could make his way back and beat some quality fighters if he gets a good trainer and learns how to fight properly. If not, then I see him getting pummeled when they finally put him in with an opponent with a pulse.