By Sean McDaniel: Former British and Commonwealth super featherweight champion Kevin Mitchell (31-1, 23 KO’s) is reportedly considering retirement from boxing over a pay-related problem with his promoter. The 26-year-old Mitchell, who hasn’t fought signed being stopped in the 3rd round last year in May by Michael Katsidis, was reportedly unhappy with the money that was being offered to him for a fight against unbeaten EBU lightweight champion John Murray for a fight that was supposed to take place in April.

The BBC reports that the money that was offered Mitchell for the Murray fight was “Less than half” of what he received for his bout against Katsidis last May.

A source from the BBC said this about Mitchell’s problems: “Kevin is tied to a five fight deal with Frank Warrren, which means he can’t go and box elsewhere. He won’t accept the fight unless the money is dramatically improved, which could leave him with nowhere to go. If he doesn’t take the fight then he faces the prospect of having to hang up the gloves while he’s still in his prime.”

It’s understandable that Mitchell would be getting less money offered to him because he would be fighting for the EBU title rather than the vacant interim WBO lightweight title like last time out. That was a fight in which Mithcell and Katsidis draw a lot of fans for the Upton Park bout. Things would be different in the Murray fight because Mitchell is coming off a loss and a long period of inactivity. Ideally, Mitchell needs a series up tune-up fights so that he can build his name back up and then look to get a big money fight against Murray. It’s not surprising that his money would be less coming off a loss. I don’t see the problem here. Instead of threatening to retire, Mitchell needs to work himself back to where he was before the loss, because if he can put together four or five wins, he’ll be ready for huge money fights.

Warren said this in the BBC piece: “It’s on record that Kevin has said I’ve supported him in the past. I’ve helped him to meet his mortgage repayments. It’s also on record that for the last fight he didn’t prepare properly, that set him back. He hasn’t fought since because he’s been out with an injury. We understand he’d been to see a specialist a year ago and told us he’d had the all clear. That didn’t turn out to be the case. He’s been offered terms, and turned the fight down despite asking me to to make the fight.If he wants to fight, the contract is there.”

Mitchell needs to take this fight because if he wins, he’s going to be right there in the thick of things in the lightweight division. Of course, he could also work his way back to a fight like like this and the money will be better. However, there’s no guarantee that Murray will still be available or in the same position as he is now. Murray could always lose to someone and that would diminish a Murray-Mitchell fight. If Mitchell hadn’t lost to Katsidis, the Murray vs. Mitchell fight would be a lot bigger right now.