By Scott Gilfoid: Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24 KO’s) could be back in action on March 16th in what will be another tune-up fight, according to fightnews.com. Mitchell, 27, defeated Felix Lora on Friday night by 10 round points decision at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Mitchell eying a title fight against World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight champion Ricky Burns in the summer, but before he gets to that fight the still rusty Mitchell needs an additional fight under his belt to try and shake some of the rust off. Mitchell has only fought twice in the past two years, as he’s wasted a tremendous amount of time with his career after having been stopped in the 3rd round against Michael Katsidis in 2010.

In looking at how Mitchell performance against the journeyman Lora, I don’t know that Mitchell can beat Ricky Burns. I don’t see Mitchell in the same class as Burns and I definitely don’t see Mitchell as being anywhere near as good as Brandon Rios, Robert Guerrero, Miguel Vazquez, Jorge Linares, Miguel Acosta, Urbano Antillon, Antonio DeMarco or Anthony Peterson. But Burns will beat Mitchell first.

Burns is a lot taller and has a much better jab than the 5’8” Mitchell. I couldn’t help but notice that Mitchell rarely threw any jabs in his win over Lora last Friday and mainly just ran around the ring trying not to get hit. The crowd hated the performance and I heard boos as early as the 5th round due to Mitchell constant movement.

British boxing fans are more used to seeing their fighters mix it up a lot more, but Mitchell was wanted no part of Lora’s power after tasting how it felt to get hit by them in the first three rounds. Mitchell fought an exclusively safety first fight and only let his hands ago with any conviction in the 10th round when he threw a few hard shots.

As for who Mitchell will be facing on March 16th, my guess is another scrub opponent, someone that has little chance of beating Mitchell and who won’t have the wheels to catch up to him as he runs around the ring likely stinking up the joint like he was last Friday. A fighter like Mitchell would have a very difficult time building any kind of fan base in the United States, where boxing fans are a little more discerning about who they back. However, the UK is such small area that there just isn’t many fighters to get behind, so you get boxing fans cheering on a hit and run fighter like Mitchell despite the lack of excitement be brings to the ring whenever he fights.

Mitchell will do well for as long as his promoter keeps matching him against limited opposition. But as soon as he faces anyone that’s any good, Mitchell will get blasted out again or easily outpointed.