By Sean McDaniel: It’s been a year since Kevin Mitchell (31-1, 23 KO’s) last fought in a 3rd round blowout against the hard hitting Michael Katsidis. Plagued with problems before and after the loss to Katsidis, Mitchell is now getting back in the ring against one of the top fighters in the lightweight division in unbeaten John Murray (31-0, 18 KO’s) on April 2nd at the Wembley Arena, in Wembley, London.

The general consensus before his loss to Katsidis was that Mitchell was better than Murray and that he would beat him if they ever mixed it up. Now both of them are scheduled to fight. However, Mitchell hasn’t been active since his loss to Katsidis and with his eye problems, it can’t be good that he’s taking this important fight without a tune-up bout.

Murray, 26, has been busy, beating Gary Buckland and Andriy Kudryavtsev. We can expect Murray to be sharper and stronger over the long haul. Can Mitchell fight hard for 12 rounds and stay on the move the way he did in his win over Breidis Prescott? That’s the big question, because if Mitchell can’t stay busy and keep from standing in front of Murray, he could end up getting rocked and taken out again.

The good thing about Murray, though, is that’s he’s not as fast nor as explosive as Katsidis. Murray fights at a slower pace and is more predictable. Still, he’s dangerous and he could wear down the rusty Mitchell and take him to deep waters and drown him with his better conditioning in this important fight.