By Shaun Campbell: In a make or break fight for both men, Kevin Mitchell is set to take on current European lightweight champion John Murray in a true ‘Battle of Britain’ encounter on the undercard of Nathan Cleverly’s world title fight against Juergen Braehmer on April 2nd. Mitchell (33-1 23KO’s) is coming off his only loss to the world-class Michael Katsidis, who knocked Mitchell out last May. Murray (30-0 18KO’s) holds the longest undefeated record for a British fighter at this current time, and is looking to earn a world title shot in 2011.

The two fighters have been on a collision course since Mitchell moved up to lightweight, and John Murray is arguably one of the most avoided men in Britain at the moment. Both men are promoted by Frank Warren, and he is eager to put together this high risk fight for both men.

It’s a fascinating fight for many reasons. Will the popular Mancunian be able to draw Mitchell into a war? Will he be able to handle Mitchell’s power? Having said that the man from Dagenham has questions of his own to answer. How will he come back from the devastating defeat against one of the hardest hitting punchers in the sport? After over 10 months out of the sport, how rusty will he be? Mitchell must be on top form is he intends to take Murray’s European title. This truly is a 50/50 fight in which either man can win, both having impressive punching power, it’s sure to be an explosive fight.

John Murray has beaten every man he has ever faced and pretty much said he will fight anyone in the lightweight division. He has even said he was willing to move up to light-welterweight to take a shot at Amir Khan, but Khan opted to fight Paul McCloskey instead. Immediately after Mitchell’s loss to Katsidis, Murray stated that Katsidis “hasn’t beaten Britain’s best lightweight” and went on to say that he was desperate to fight the Aussie knockout artist.

It’s a fight that will change both fighters careers for the better and for the worse. The winner is likely to get a world title shot in 2011, but the loser is left wondering where they are placed in the boxing world. Could Murray or Mitchell go back to fighting at British title level after coming so close to the world stage? Murray would lose his undefeated record, and after finally getting his break at European level, it is unlikely he’d move back to British title fights. Mitchell on the other hand would have lost 2 out of his last 2 fights should he be defeated. Where he would go from that is a mystery. It’s going to be one of the most anticipated match ups of the year involving two British fighters, and it’s going to be explosive.