Mitchell vs. Banks in WBC semi-final heavyweight eliminator on Saturday

By Allan Fox: Unbeaten heavyweight Seth Mitchell (25-0-1, 19 KO’s) will be facing #12 IBF Johnathon Banks (28-1-1, 18 KO’s) for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title on Saturday night on the Adrien Broner vs. Antonio DeMarco undercard at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Besides the WBC International title being up for grabs for the Mitchell-Banks fight, it’s also considered a WBC semi-final eliminator bout.

That’s the strange part because neither Banks or Mitchell is ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Council, so it’s kind of bizarre that they’re going to be fighting in a semi-final eliminator bout. Where does the winner of the Banks vs. Mitchell fight go? The problem here is that next month #1 WBC Chris Arreola is facing #2 WBC Bermane Stiverne in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator.

So does this make the Mitchell-Banks fight a kind of queue for a final eliminator fight against some of the other contenders? It just seems strange to have another sequence of eliminators being set up when there is already a final eliminator bout taking place next month. Presumably the Banks vs. Mitchell winner would then have to fight the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Kevin Johnson fight in another final eliminator.

It’s not an appealing thought to picture either Mitchell or Banks potentially fighting WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko for his title in the future because both look so flawed at this point. Mitchell was almost knocked out in his last fight against Chazz Witherspoon last April, and he doesn’t have the size, reach, chin or boxing skills to beat a fighter like Vitali.

He’s someone that will have problems against the better fighters in the division. And Banks really should be back fighting at cruiserweight because he was exposed in that division and he’s not looked at all impressive since moving up in weight to the heavyweight division in 2009. Banks has won eight fights in this division against weak 2nd tier opposition, but watching him fight to a 12 round draw against journeyman Jason Gavern in 2010 kind of tells you all you need to know about Banks’ potential at heavyweight.