By Terence Dooley
Kevin Mitchell’s dreams of stepping up in class came to a shuddering halt before 17,000 adoring fans at Upton Park, London last night as Australia’s Michael Katsidis hammered the ‘hammer’ into defeat at 1:57 of the third round. Kevin’s night then went from bad to worse at the post-fight presser when trainer Jimmy Tibbs and promoter Frank Warren took him to task for his poor pre-fight preparations.
Tibbs, who has decades of experience in the boxing business, told the assembled press that he had voiced his own concerns early into Kevin’s fractured training camp. “No I wasn’t”, said Tibbs when asked if he had been happy with the training camp, “but I’m not going to talk Kevin down because I love the kid and he’s a good kid.”
He continued: “He (Michael) summed it up when he said that it was down to preparation. I still think this kid can go on and do something at the world championship level if he prepares right. Michael took a lot of punches there tonight but he didn’t let it faze him, another fighter might have buckled a bit but he didn’t, and the why is preparation.”
“If you want to be a world champion of the world then you have to live the life, you have to live it”, reiterated Tibbs, “he (Mitchell) didn’t prepare the way he prepared for the [Breidis] Prescott fight. I’m not making excuses. Michael deserves the glory tonight. We got beat fair and square, and hold our hands up. I told Kevin five weeks ago that he wasn’t preparing the way he prepared for Breidis Prescott, he said, ‘I know’, and was playing catch up after that.”
Frank Warren, who gave his man every possible advantage ahead of the contest by bringing the WBO interim title tilt to Mitchell’s backyard, shared Tibbs’ frustration; the veteran promoter told his charge that he is not prepared to carry any passengers.
“It really pisses me off hearing this,” said Warren after Tibbs’ revelation. “The facts of the matter are that if Kevin doesn’t want to play at this game then I’m certainly not financing it, for him or any other fighter. If you don’t want to play the game then don’t waste my time, you can waste your own time but don’t waste mine.”
“Whatever’s happened, and we’ll get to the bottom of what happened, I don’t want to take the slightest thing away from Michael Katsidis, he has done everything he had to do and quite rightly won the fight, and deserved to win it. Kevin now has to really learn from this, if he wants to be a world champion and play the game then I’m the person to help him,” promised Warren.
Mitchell, now 31-1 (23 early), admitted that he had failed to prepare properly for the fight, proving correct the saying, ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’, in this his biggest test to date. Kevin was clearly disappointed with his performance and the likeable 25-year-old was gracious when acknowledging Katsidis’ display.
“About five weeks ago Jimmy told me that I hadn’t prepared for the fight and I was messing around. I was having a few late nights. This has given me a big kick up the backside as want to be where Michael is - holding the belts - and this will make me work harder for the next fight.
“I've got a young family and there have been a lot of rows that people don't understand about. One minute I’m living at my mum’s and then I’m living at my flat. But you can’t take nothing away from Michael and how good he looked. I tried the best I could, I was in shape, but he did what he had to do,” stressed the Dagenham-based fighter, who has learned a harsh lesson at a crucial time in his career.
However, Mitchell has witnessed first-hand just how quickly things move within this sport, his win over Prescott catapulted him up the rankings and another big win, plus a resolute approach to his preparations, could see Mitchell come again somewhere down the line.
Big fight reaction from Katsidis, Derek Chisora, James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders, Frankie Gavin and Craig Evans to follow, plus an exclusive chat with newly minted EBU cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli.
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