Mitchell wins in sublime style
Dagenham's Kevin Mitchell claimed a unanimous points decision over hard-hitting Columbian Breidis Prescott in fine fashion in their WBO lightweight title eliminator in Newcastle.
Fighting up at lightweight for the first time, former British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion Mitchell delivered a wonderfully patient, assured and yet spirited performance in an excellent contest.
Boxing against Amir Khan conqueror Prescott, known for his knockout prowess, Mitchell sensibly looked to hit and move, keeping a high right hand in readiness for the Columbian's sharp left hook. However, it was the left of Mitchell that did the most damage throughout the twelve rounds, landing consistently and hurtfully on Prescott's chin.
Prescott started brightly in the first, using his height and reach advantage to land a stiff left jab that seemed to rock Mitchell, much like against Khan 15 months ago. There was to be no repeat of that performance though, as Mitchell used his superior footwork and movement to frustrate Prescott, forcing the Columbian to miss constantly throughout the fight.
Prescott seemed desperate to drag Mitchell into a brawl and there was certainly a bit of needle between the two fighters as they clashed at the end of round one and continuously through the fight. However, Mitchell avoided such a route, instead choosing to outbox his opponent and frustrate him with his tactics. Indeed, by the fifth Mitchell seemed intent on breaking the spirit of Prescott moving in and out of range with some excellent lead rights and left hooks and throwing his hands in the air to goad his frustrated opponent.
It was this type of boxing that allowed Mitchell to take the fight away from Pescott in the middle rounds, proving too slick and even backing up the Columbian onto the ropes in rounds six and seven, landing more crisp left hooks.
Prescott looked to come back into the fight in the final rounds as Mitchell lost some momentum, abandoning the types of flurries that had put him in command. However, it was a dominant and assured display from the undefeated Dagaenham man and he fully deserved the decision that came his way at the end of the fight with scores of 119-110, 118-111, 117-111 all going his way.
The victory marks undefeated Mitchell's 30th career win and the confident manner of the performance should see the exciting lightweight matched in the sort of World title fights his talent deserves, perhaps against WBO Interim champion Michael Katsidis. Whatever happens, Mitchell has proven he has not only the talent but also the mentality to defeat the best operators in his division and should be praised for an excellent display.
Elsewhere on the bill, James DeGale looked uninspiring in his four round points win over Nathan King, Frankie Gavin delivered an excellent sixth round performance to record a stoppage against tricky Frenchman Samir Tergaoui and John Simpson retained his Commonwealth featherweight crown with a seventh-round cuts stoppage against Stevie Bell.
