Kevin Mitchell showed himself to be a boxer of high class after succeeding where Amir Khan failed by beating Breidis Prescott with an almost perfect display.
The big-punching Colombian knocked out Amir Khan in just 54 seconds last year and most thought that Mitchell, 25, was running a huge risk in taking him on. But Mitchell frustrated and ultimately outclassed Prescott, sticking to the plan devised by Jimmy Tibbs, his trainer.
Boxing on the back foot from the start, Mitchell offered an elusive target for Prescott’s bombs, which went sailing past Mitchell’s head with regular ferocity. After four rounds, the East Londoner, who extended his unbeaten record to 30 bouts, got more adventurous and began punishing Prescott for every miss.
At times Mitchell even held out his chin to tempt Prescott, before pulling it out of range as a huge punch was heaved over. By the end Prescott was completely demoralised. The decision was unanimous and wide.
“He broke Prescott’s heart,” Frank Warren, the promoter, said. “Kevin can be a world champion next year.”
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It was a big step up for Mitchell, a former British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion who was making his debut as a lightweight. He turned professional after winning an ABA title at 18 boxing for the West Ham club, but his progress has been hampered by hand problems. A year agohe needed an operation after his United States debut and feared his career could be over.
In the past he often neglected his skills to get himself involved in scraps and many doubted that he had the patience to box to orders for 12 rounds.
“When I was a 20-year-old boy, it would have been difficult to stick to the plan — now I’m a 25-year-old man it was easy,” Mitchell said. “I thought about upping the pacing, going to war and sticking it to him a bit, but I was worried if I did that about coming back to the corner and Jimmy giving me a bit of a clip.”
The bout was an eliminator for the WBO lightweight title, setting up a potential bout with that organisation’s interim champion, Michael Katsidis, of Australia. The WBO’s “regular” champion, Juan Manuel Marquez, will likely move on to bigger bouts. There was also speculation about a future bout with Khan, and Mitchell revealed that Khan had called him on Friday.
“I’m good friends with Amir and he told me what to do with him,” Mitchell said. He added: “It would [be] better to win the world title at lightweight and then fight Khan.”