Kevin Mitchell believes that a win against Breidis Prescott next month could lead to an all-British showdown with Amir Khan.
Prescott, the Colombian who knocked out Khan in 54 seconds last year, faces the unbeaten Mitchell in an eliminator for the WBO lightweight title at the Metro Radio arena, Newcastle, on December 5. Khan tops the bill, making the first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title against Dmitriy Salita, the Ukrainian-born American. “If Prescott thinks he is going to do the same thing to me that he did to Khan, he’s got another think coming,” Mitchell, 25, said. “He is going to be in for 12 rounds of pain.”
The East Londoner, who is the British super-featherweight champion and has won all his 29 bouts, believes a move up in weight will create opportunities. “There are a lot of big matches to be made domestically with the likes of Khan, John Murray and Alex Arthur,” Mitchell said. “I would be happy to move up in weight again to get a shot at Khan.”
James DeGale, the Beijing Olympic gold medal-winner, plus Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders, his former amateur team-mates, all go for their fifth wins as professionals on the same bill, while Ronnie Heffron, this year’s ABA welterweight champion from Manchester, makes his debut.
Khan has moved his training camp this week from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, where he will train alongside Manny Pacquiao before the Filipino’s bout with Miguel Cotto on Saturday.