By William Mackay: Kevin Mitchell (32-1, 24 KO’s) is hoping to get a shot against WBO interim lightweight champion Ricky Burns (33-2, 9 KO’s) in the early part of 2012 and thinks he can beat him. If this fight can be made it would be a huge one. Burns recently defeated Michael Katsidis by a 12 round unanimous decision earlier this month but didn’t look very impressive in winning that fight.
Mitchell told Sunsport “I’ll be back in action early in the new years and I’m hoping to be against Burns.”
Mitchell defeated John Murray by an 8th round TKO last July and looked very impressive in getting the win. Using quick combinations and an in and out attack to get the better of Murray.
Right now if the Mitchell-Burns fight were made today, I’d have to go with Mitchell to win this one. Burns is slower now that he’s moved up to lightweight, looks heavier around the middle and doesn’t throw as many punches as he did at super featherweight. He’s slower at this weight and vulnerable. He’ll be destroyed by Juan Manuel Marquez, the WBO lightweight champion, if he ever bothers to defend his title against Burns. But I think Mitchell is more than good enough to outwork and outsmart Burns. We saw Katsidis really give Burns a lot of problems with his work rate, and although Burns landed the cleaner shots, he wasn’t able to throw many punches because of how heavy he was. Burns looked like a welterweight, and likely was near 147 the night of the fight. The added weight didn’t make Burns a better fighter, though.
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