By Mark Vester
According to promoter Frank Warren, British super feathweight champion Carl Johanneson has pulled out of his fight with Commonwealth champ Kevin Mitchell, citing a bad back. Mitchell will now defend the Commonwealth title against Ghanaian Thomas Aryeetey, who is West African and Ghanaian super featherweight champion. The fight headlines a boxing event on January 12 at York Hall, Bethnal Green.
The undercard features the return of Takaloo. He takes on Anthony Small for the vacant Southern Area light middleweight crown.
Aryeetey is on the list of mandatory challengers drawn up by Commonwealth boxing officials, and went 12 rounds in August when he won his two titles in Accra, Ghana. Mitchell is hoping the fight with Johanneson can be rescheduled to a later date.
"I'm absolutely devastated by Johanneson pulling out," Mitchell said on Warren's site. "I trained long and hard for the fight and sacrificed my Christmas. But there's no point moping about. I have to refocus on Aryeetey straight away because at this stage of my career I can't afford any slip ups. I've already fought another Ghanaian, George Ashie, and he gave me a tough night, so there will be no cutting corners.
"Hopefully I'll fight Johanneson later this year and add the British title to my Commonwealth crown. It's always been my dream to win British, Commonwealth, European and world titles."
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com
