Classy Michael Katsidis ends Kevin Mitchell dream -- BBC Sport

By Ben Dirs, BBC Sport

Kevin Mitchell's dream fight at Upton Park turned into a nightmare as he was dismantled inside three rounds by Australian Michael Katsidis.

Mitchell, 25, looked surprised by Katsidis' power in the first round and was immediately forced to backpedal.

The Dagenham man appeared to have settled in the second, finding his mark with some sharp combinations.

But Katsidis, 25, staggered Mitchell with a big left hand in the third and referee Dave Parris later stepped in.

"I knew he was a big puncher, I knew he was heavy-handed," said Mitchell.

"He lured me into an attack and bang, he caught me.

"I've been in with big punchers - Carl Johanneson, Breidis Prescott. He lured me into the shot, I walked into one and bang. You can't make mistakes like that, I made the mistake and that's that.

"It's a wake-up call, I've got to be more professional in what I'm doing and take more care of my work and be more aware of what I'm doing in the ring, I backed up and sat on the ropes like an idiot.

"I'll be back and I'll be strong and I'll be ready to fight him again, definitely. 100% I will win a world title, I promise you."

Mitchell was challenging for Katsidis' WBO interim lightweight crown in front of 14,000 vociferous locals at West Ham's ground, but it was the Aussie who seemed the more energised by the occasion.

Punk band Cockney Rejects were on hand to sing Mitchell into the ring with a raucous rendition of the old Hammers favourite I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, but Katsidis, in his trademark gladiator helmet, looked noticeably bigger when they eventually came face to face.

And after a cagey opening, Mitchell seemed to be somewhat taken aback when Katsidis decided to break ranks, with the Englishman spending most of the rest of the round on the back foot and Katsidis landing some spiteful blows.

It was better from Mitchell in the second, the challenger using his jab and finding the target with some snappy combinations, but still Katsidis came pouring forward.

At the start of the third Katsidis seemed to back off slightly, which succeeded in luring Mitchell forward into a slugging match and allowed the champion to pounce.

Former British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion Mitchell, who made his name as a slugger, had looked a more complete fighter in his last few fights, and the accepted wisdom was that he should avoid going toe-to-toe with Katsidis.

And sure enough, when the leather started flying it was the champion who came off best, staggering Mitchell with a cuffing left to the back of the head, a shot from which Mitchell never really recovered.

Mitchell fired back with a couple of combinations, but Katsidis just kept coming, backing his rival onto the ropes before landing with another clubbing left and following up with a sustained, two-fisted battery.

And with Mitchell no longer returning fire, Parris was left with no other option but to stop the fight one minute and 57 seconds into the round, an outcome that stunned the West Ham faithful into virtual silence.

Mitchell, who was previously unbeaten in 31 pro encounters, will now have to rebuild his career, with a much talked about domestic match-up against Amir Khan now a distant dream.

While he vowed to come back and win a world championship, the manner in which he was exposed by a fighter who had fought and come up short at the very highest level will raise questions about his ability to do so.

But promoter Frank Warren has backed his man to return from his first loss and follow Khan's example by bouncing back from defeat to win a world title.

"Can he come back? I think he can," Warren told BBC Sport.

"We saw what happened to Amir Khan 18 months ago, and it's all about him using the talents he's got and not letting his heart overrule his brain.

"If he does that again he won't win a world title, he's got to learn and he's young enough to do that. He's got to go back to the drawing board and if he can learn, I think he will win a world title."

Instead it is Katsidis, who stopped Luton's Graham Earl in five savage rounds when he last fought in London in 2007 and who improves to 27 wins and two losses, who can now look forward to some big pay days, with the WBO's full champion Juan Manuel Marquez still on his radar.

"It's fantastic, it's been an absolute pleasure. You've got 20,000 people here, I would just hope one day these people could come and support me," said Katsidis.

"I feel I'm the best I've ever been, we've worked hard and I've been away from my family and my new baby girl.

"I can't leave Britain anyway because of the volcano, so I just want to stay here. There's 20-odd thousand passionate people here cheering and supporting the sport I love.

"I'm just going to enjoy my title, I am the world champion."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Khan hits back at his critics -- ESPN

ESPN staff

Amir Khan has hit back at those who have suggested that he is cherry-picking his opponents by insisting there is no-one he will not take on.

The WBA light-welterweight champion defends his belt against Paulie Malignaggi - not a man renowned for his ferocious punching power - on May 15th in his first bout in America.

He has come in for criticism ahead of that fight - most notably from unbeaten Brit Kevin Mitchell, who has accused Khan of ducking his challenge. "I don't think the fight will happen as he sees me as too much of a threat," Mitchell said.

"He will keep picking the easy fights like he has done with Paulie Malignaggi, who couldn't crack an egg with a brick. Amir doesn't want to fight anyone who can punch."

Questions about Khan's in-ring durability surfaced after he was knocked out after 54 seconds by iron-fisted Colombian Breidis Prescott, his only loss in 23 professional fights.

Khan has acknowledged that he had a vulnerability earlier in his career, but he insists that trainer Freddie Roach has helped him eradicate any flaws - and that he will fight all comers.

"Whoever wants to fight me, just tell them to line up, I'll fight all of them," Khan said. "I'm ready, I'll hopefully get this guy out of the way and my American debut out the way and then I'll be ready for all the other fighters in the division and we'll just go from there.

"Freddie's a brilliant trainer. Everyone can see the changes in me since I've been with him. We've worked on using the defence at the right time, blocking shots and not taking too many shots. I used to fight using the heart - I had a good boxing brain, but never used it. Freddie has got me using my brains."

In other boxing news, Manny Pacquiao has confirmed that he will re-enter the ring in November. No negotiations are currently taking place with any potential opponents.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd

Source: espn.co.uk

Kevin Mitchell backing Mayweather in Pacquiao row -- ESPN

ESPN staff

Kevin Mitchell has backed Floyd Mayweather Jnr's stance in his blood-testing row with Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather Jnr has insisted that Pacquiao must agree to Olympic-style random blood testing ahead of any bout, but the Filipino is refusing to comply.

The stand-off between the pugilists is threatening to prove too large an obstacle to overcome in the bid to arrange the hotly-anticipated fight.

"I think Mayweather's got a fair point with the testing," Mitchell said. "If someone won't take a drug test then there's a problem there. Mayweather's taken the test so what's the big deal? I'm not sure about Pacquiao's reason for not giving blood - that he feels weakened by it. I've never felt weakened giving blood, though maybe it's different for him."

Mitchell, who takes on Michael Katsidis on May 15 for the WBO interim lightweight title, is eyeing up a future bout against revered Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez - who has twice faced off against Pacquiao. "After Katsidis, I want the big names," Mitchell said. "And the best has got to be Marquez."

Amir Khan is in action on the same night as the Mitchell-Katsidis clash, taking on Paulie Malignaggi in his first fight on American soil. Oscar De La Hoya, founder of Khan's promoters Golden Boy, is backing the Brit to become a "super-champion."

"Amir Khan, I believe, has the speed, power and passion I had," De La Hoya said. "Those are the attributes that helped me to become who I am in the sport of boxing. It really is a privilege to me to guide his career into something special for the future.

"What sets him apart is the passion I see in his eyes. Khan has the ability to become a super-champion, a legend."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd

Source: espn.co.uk

Kevin Mitchell faces pivotal fight in pursuit of Amir Khan -- The Guardian

By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk

One day, Kevin Mitchell and Amir Khan should meet in the ring. But, such are the machinations of boxing politics, the prospect of this happening makes putting together a coalition to run the country look like a squabble over a parking spot.

For now, these excellent young British fighters are conducting their business 3,000 miles and five pounds in weight apart in major title fights on competing UK television channels, Sky and ITV, for different promoters on the same night.

Certainly, Mitchell is itching to fight Khan. And, if he takes the interim version of the WBO's lightweight championship from the Australian Michael Katsidis at Upton Park on Saturday night, he will have made another definitive statement at world level, albeit in the division below his Bolton rival, who defends his WBA light-welterweight belt against Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden a few hours later.

If their parallel careers do not converge, it will be either because of American-promoted Khan's reluctance to look back to the UK for his big paydays or the intransigence of the fighters' connections, Frank Warren for Mitchell and Oscar De La Hoya for Khan – who recently split with Warren.

Saturday night's two contests could hardly be more different: West Ham fan Mitchell is headed for a very physical confrontation in his own backyard against an Australian for whom going backwards is an alien concept, while Khan travels to the spiritual home of modern boxing for what should be a chess match against a fleet-footed, light-hitting New Yorker.

I fancy Mitchell to be too slick for Katsidis, whose determination and punch make him a dangerous if easy-to-find opponent. The Dagenham fighter surprised all but himself and his new trainer Jimmy Tibbs when he abandoned his kamikaze fighting style to outbox Khan's one-round conqueror, Breidis Prescott, methodically over 12 rounds last year.

Last time out, in February, he displayed his growing power with a perfect right that lifted the tough Ignacio Mendoza clean off his feet and dumped him on his backside for the full count in round two.

While Katsidis – remembered here for his five-round war with Graham Earl three years ago – has moved in better company, losing in thrillers to Joel Casamayor and Juan Díaz, his recent CV is less impressive. He is a fire-tested 29-year-old campaigner who only kept his interim title with a split decision over Vicente Escobedo in September.

"This is a massive fight for me," Mitchell says. "It will move me into the big time. We're two come-forward fighters, two punchers. We both love having tear-ups. We've proved that throughout our careers. But, when you fight the way we do, when you come forward, you can't just be rushing in throwing bombs at each other. When you fight the way we do, it's not clumsiness. It's tactical as well.

"I can't be giving away tactics, but they won't be the same as I used against Prescott. Prescott is a one-punch man, but Michael throws loads of punches, so I've got to build my tactics around that. Michael's been in there with top-class fighters. He's shown his heart, dug in deep."

On Khan's fight, Mitchell says: "I think he wins, but he took an easy option there. It won't be anything like the fight between me and Michael. We've both taken a bigger gamble than he has in that one, definitely. This shows what I'm about. I'd fight Juan Manuel Márquez too. I'll let Frank take care of all that. I'm just concentrating on this one."

To complicate the picture, Márquez owns what we are led to regard in boxing's confusing hierarchy as the WBO's full lightweight title, and defends it against Diaz at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 31 July. Adding mystery to confusion, Márquez has hinted he will vacate that title, as he is still prepared to go up to light-welterweight and tempt Ricky Hatton out of his on-off retirement. Hatton is a walking contradiction of the song they belted out for him – "There's only one Ricky Hatton" – yet he may still box again if he can shift the lard and especially if he is part of the promotion.

For the moment, Warren is not thinking about Khan as a potential opponent for Mitchell. "If Kevin wins," the promoter says, "there are some massive fights out there for him. We are still waiting to hear from the WBO whether or not Márquez is vacating. If he isn't, then he has to fight Kevin pretty sharpish. If he is, then Kevin will fight the next in line [currently the Argentinian Jorge Barrios] if he beats Katsidis."

Khan, who has had to cool his heels in Vancouver waiting for his US visa to come through – he is due to fly to New York today – responded to Mitchell's put-down: "I think that's another fighter trying to make a name for himself on my back. This is going to be a very good fight. Malignaggi has been in with Hatton and is a clever, tough fighter. I have been hitting harder and harder in training and am very pleased with my preparation."

So is his trainer, Freddie Roach, who reckons Malignaggi has not been showing much respect for the sport with claims that Khan's stablemate, Manny Pacquiao, needs to prove he is not on performance-enhancing drugs. "He's an asshole," Roach said succinctly. "We're going to knock him out." I think he's right – on the second point, at least.

Source: guardian.co.uk

Kevin Mitchell blasts Amir Khan -- Daily Star

DailyStar.co.uk

KEVIN Mitchell blames Amir Khan’s texts scandal on his Hollywood lifestyle.

And Londoner Mitchell blasted Khan for claiming he’ll be ready to take on the best in the business in a year.

Unbeaten Mitchell, 25, who fights Aussie Michael Katsidis for the WBO interim lightweight title at Upton Park in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Saturday, said: “He’s let the Hollywood lifestyle get to him. He’s even talking about fighting Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather next year.

“He’s not in their league. He’s just making himself look foolish and I feel gutted for him.”

Source: dailystar.co.uk