Jorge Linares

(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Scott Gilfoid: After getting whipped last Saturday night by WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (39-3, 26 KOs) in getting stopped in the 10th round, #1 WBC Kevin Mitchell (39-3, 29 KOs) wants an immediate rematch against the 29-year-old Linares so that he can have a chance of redemption.

It’s unclear why Mitchell feels he deserves a rematch considering that he was beaten to a pulp by Linares and legitimately stopped, but that’s what Mitchell wants. Surprisingly, Mitchell was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards by the scores of 88-82 and 86-84 at the time of the stoppage. The other judge had it knotted up at 85-85.

Mitchell’s promoter Eddie Hearn says the fight was going to be stopped at the end of the 10th, and it would have gone to the cards where he feels Mitchell would have won due to his lead.

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By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBC Kevin Mitchell (39-2, 29 KOs) did his part to earn his title shot this Saturday night against WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (38-3, 25 KOs) by defeating Daniel Estrada by an 8th round knockout last January in their WBC l35lb eliminator bout, but it seems that the victory for Mitchell has given him a big too much confidence.

Beating Estrada is a nice little feather to put in one’s cap, but it’s really not that big of a deal given that Estrada had previously been knocked out by Omar Figueroa Jr. last year in August and arguably didn’t rate to be fighting in an eliminator bout for the mandatory spot for the WBC.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Fighting for a world title for the second title in his 12-year pro career, #1 WBC Kevin Mitchell (39-2, 29 KOs) is confident he’ll have his hand raised in victory on Saturday night when he challenges WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (38-3, 25 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Mitchell, 30, will have the hometown advantage due to the fight taking place in the UK rather than Linares’ home in Tokyo, Japan. It’s going to be awfully tough for Mitchell though because Linares is arguably much better than Ricky Burns, a fighter that crushes Mitchell in just 4 rounds in 2012 in the last time that Mitchell challenged for a world title.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t see challenger Kevin Mitchell’s hometown advantage being much help to him on May 30th this month when he challenges WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (39-2, 29 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

De La Hoya thinks that Linares’ fast hands are going to trouble Mitchell in this fight. We saw how Mitchell struggled in his fight against the quick-handed Ghislain Maduma last year in May. While Mitchell wound up winning the fight in the 11th after Maduma ran out of gas, he was dominated in the first 10 rounds.

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By Olly Campbell: On the 30th May at London’s O2 Arena, Dagenham’s Kevin Mitchell will get a 3rd, and possibly final shot at becoming the lightweight champion of the world when he squares off against Japan-based Venezuelan Jorge Linares in the South American’s first defence of his freshly acquired WBC 135lb strap.

Mitchell will headline a bumper card that is to also feature Lee Selby in a world title challenge vs Evengy Gradovich and Olympic hero Anthony Joshua in his rescheduled bout with American veteran Kevin Johnson.

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