There are two big fights this weekend involving up-and-coming British fighters. In New York, Amir Khan takes on Paulie Malignaggi, while a little closer to home, at West Ham's Upton Park, local boy Kevin Mitchell fights Michael Katsidis for the WBO interim lightweight title. There's little doubt in my mind who has the more difficult task (Mitchell) and which fight will prove the more entertaining (Mitchell again.)
Unbeaten in 31 fights, Kevin Mitchell is a great little fighter: tidy, compact, but with a sting in the tail, as his last outing against Ignacio Mendoza proved. But despite impressive wins against Mendoza and Breidis Prescott among others, the suspicion remains that Mitchell may have moved up in class too soon. Graham Earl, knocked out in five rounds by Katsidis in 2007, certainly thinks so. Katsidis (pictured above) is a warrior in every sense of the word, and his Greek father even hails from the same village in Greece which is thought to have been the birthplace of Achilles. He will care not a jot that Mitchell is fighting in front of an expected 30,000 fans at the home of his beloved West Ham and will try and take him into the trenches from the start. The bookies make Mitchell a slight favourite overall but SkyBet quote both fighters at 2/1 to win by TKO or KO. My feeling is that it could go either way - sorry for stating the obvious - but I expect a war and fancy SkyBet's generous 6/1 on both fighters hitting the canvas at some point during the fight.
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