Kevin Mitchell: I’d like a shot against Brandon Rios

By Boxing News - 07/22/2011 - Comments

Image: Kevin Mitchell: I'd like a shot against Brandon RiosBy William Mackay: Boosted by the confidence that he got by stopping previously unbeaten lightweight contender John Murray last Saturday night in an 8th round TKO win, Kevin Mitchell (32-1, 24 KO’s) is now targeting WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO’s) for his next fight.

Rios has an open date on November 12th on his schedule for a fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mitchell is going to have to push his promoter to work hard to try and land that fight, because Mitchell isn’t even ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Association at this time, making it difficult to see him getting the fight.

On Sky Sports Ringside, Mitchell said “For me, I’d like a title shot against Brandon Rios. He’s a lot like John Murray. I’ve seen him get hit with six shots and stopped in his tracks. If someone can stop him in his tracks than I can stop him in his tracks definitely.”

That sounds well and good, but there’s a big difference in beating a slow plodder like Murray and taking on a guy with better speed, power and boxing ability like Rios. That would be like Mitchell taking on a better version of Michael Katsidis, and we already saw what happened to Mitchell when he tried to step it up and face Katsidis last year. Mitchell got knocked out in the 3rd round and looked poor throughout.

Mitchell will likely go after a fight against Katsidis next. It’s a doable fight because Katsidis may jump at the chance to fight Mitchell again if they offer him good money. Katsidis has lost his last two fights and is taking on a journeyman opponent Michael Lozada to get a confidence booster next month. The only thing with trying to get the Katsidis fight is that Mitchell and his promoter may have to compete with Rios’ Top Rank Promotional company to land Katsidis, because they reportedly want Katsidis for Rios next.



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