By Scott Gilfoid: #7 IBF, Kevin Mitchell (37-2, 27 KO’s) won’t be facing IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez next on the Carl Froch vs. George Groves 2 fight card on May 31st after all, as Vazquez reportedly suffered a cut in his recent successful title defense against Denis Shafikov last month in China, and that’s going to get in the way of him defending his IBF strap against Mitchell. So instead of Mitchell facing Vazquez, he could be battling #6 IBF Ghislain Maduma (16-0, 10 KO’s) in an IBF ordered eliminator bout.
“The IBF sent out a notice that Kevin Mitchell is now in the final eliminator with Ghislain Maduma,” Mitchell’s promoter Eddie Hearn said to IBF TV. “We need to weigh up whether we take that fight, but my gut feeling is that Mitchell will face Maduma in the final eliminator.”
Maduma is a pretty good fighter, so that might explain why Hearn is undecided about matching Mitchell up against him. Maduma hasn’t fought anyone remotely good as of yet, but he’s got fast hands, and a powerful left hook. I could definitely see him knocking Mitchell out if Hearn chooses to make this match. I mean, if Hearn chooses not to have Mitchell face Maduma in the IBF lightweight eliminator bout, you can only conclude that there’s some fear there on Hearn’s part about whether Mitchell it up to the task.
If Hearn believes in Mitchell and thinks he can beat Maduma, then why wouldn’t he make this fight? If Mitchell becomes the mandatory challenger to Vazquez, then he’ll get a much bigger purse split than if he’s just an optional challenger.
If I was Mitchell’s promoter, I wouldn’t match him against Maduma. I think this guy is way too good for Mitchell, and it would be too risky of a fight for him. I would just wait until Vazquez’s cut heals and then match Mitchell against him. Yeah, the purse will likely be smaller for Mitchell, but it is still better for him to do that than to have Mitchell picked off by Maduma, and then he never gets a title shot at all.
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