Kevin Mitchell (born 29 October 1984) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2015. He challenged twice for the lightweight world title in 2012 and 2015. At the regional level, he held the Commonwealthsuper featherweight title from 2006 to 2008 and the British super featherweight title in 2008.
Mitchell made his professional debut for promoter Frank Warren on 17 July 2003, scoring a first-round knockout of Stevie Quinn. On 10 December 2005, Mitchell stopped Mohammed Medjadji in six rounds to win the vacant IBF Inter-Continental super-featherweight title, his first regional championship.
Commonwealth and British super-featherweight champion
On 28 October 2006, Mitchell defeated George Ashie by a twelve-round unanimous decision to win the vacant Commonwealth super-featherweight title.[2] Two defenses of this title came against Harry Ramogoadi on 10 March 2007 (sixth-round TKO)[3] and Carl Johanneson on 8 March 2008 (ninth-round TKO). In the Johanneson fight, Mitchell also won the British super-featherweight title. Johanneson had drawn level on the judges' scorecards by the time of the stoppage.[4]
Moving up to lightweight
In 2009, Mitchell began his campaign at lightweight. He won over Lanquaye Wilson on 22 May (third-round TKO) and Ruddy Encarnacion on 18 July (eighth-round TKO). One of Mitchell's most acclaimed matches to date was his win against Breidis Prescott on 5 December. Prescott was famous for his punching power and knockout of Amir Khan in 2008. At the end of the twelve-round, the judges scored the fight as a wide unanimous decision for Mitchell, handing him his 31st consecutive professional victory and the WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.[5]
First loss
On the 15 May 2010, Mitchell competed for WBO interim title, held by Michael Katsidis, as well as a chance to fight for a full world title later in the year. The referee stopped the fight two minutes into the third round when Katsidis hit Mitchell with a left hook and several unanswered punches.
Personal life
Mitchell was unable to compete for over a year due to personal issues. Prior to the Katsidis fight, Mitchell disclosed that he had been experiencing family and relationship difficulties, as well as engaging in an unhealthy lifestyle.
Comeback
A fight against fellow lightweight prospect and domestic rival John Murray, then undefeated as a professional, was set for 16 July 2011 as a comeback fight for Mitchell. Mitchell won his second WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.[6]
World title challenges
Another year of relative inactivity followed until 22 September 2012, when Mitchell faced WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns for his first world title opportunity. In front of his home crowd in Glasgow, Burns scored two knockdowns and defeated Mitchell in four rounds.[7] Following his second professional loss, Mitchell spent ten months away from the sport. From 2013 to 2014, having switched promoters to Matchroom Sport and reunited with former trainer Tony Sims, Mitchell earned four wins in what proved to be a steady return to form.
On 31 May 2014, an unexpected stiff test came in the form of Ghislain Maduma, on the undercard to the rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves at Wembley Stadium. On the day of the fight, Mitchell failed to make the IBF-mandated same-day weigh-in by 1+1⁄2 lb (0.68 kg), a mistake which Mitchell put down to having eaten steak the night before. Since the fight was an eliminator to face then-reigning IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vázquez, Mitchell had forfeited his chance at fighting for the title even if he won. In the fight against Maduma, Mitchell gave up an early lead on points and absorbed many clean punches from his highly aggressive opponent. In the ninth round, Mitchell began to gain ground by catching Maduma with clean punches of his own. This was followed up in rounds ten and eleven when Maduma was staggered by a series of punches and stopped on his feet.[8]
On 31 January 2015, he faced Daniel Estrada for the vacant WBC Silver lightweight title. In what was described as a career-best performance, Mitchell showcased his boxing skills with renewed motivation en route to stopping Estrada in eight rounds.[9] This set up a second world title opportunity for Mitchell, this time against WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares. Their fight took place on 30 May. In round five, Mitchell scored a hard knockdown, allowing him to build up a lead on the scorecards. Linares scored a knockdown of his own in round ten, which quickly signaled the end of the fight as Mitchell's eye had been badly cut from a punch, forcing the referee to wave off the fight.[10]
On 12 December, he made another attempt at vying for a world title on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte. On the line was the WBA interim lightweight title, and facing him was Ismael Barroso, who knocked him down three times. By the fifth round, the referee stopped the fight. Immediately afterwards, Mitchell had to be given oxygen by ringside doctors.[11]
Retirement
Mitchell was scheduled to fight European lightweight champion Edis Tatli on 18 March 2016 in Finland, but on 10 February, Mitchell announced his retirement and withdrawal from the fight. He told Sky Sports, "I've had a good think about it over the last week and I'm happily retired now… I've been doing this 22 years and it's time to call it a day and start a new chapter in my life."[12]
