Seth Mitchell will waste no time with tuneups and head right back in the ring with the man who gave him his first defeat, Johnathon Banks, on a HBO card scheduled for February 16.
In a statement to boxingscene.com, Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez said Mitchell was intent on making the rematch in early 2013.
Mitchell suffered a devastating defeat on HBO to Banks on November 17 when he was knocked down three times in second round in route to a TKO stoppage. Mitchell had been showcased prominently on HBO over the last several months and was being mentioned as a possible opponent for the Klitschkos in 2013. Banks, who was mentored by the late Emanuel Steward, took over training duties for Steward fighter Wladimir Klitschko last month.
The rematch will be shown at the undercard of Adrien Broner’s first lightweight title defense since lifting the WBC title off Antonio DeMarco.
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I really like this move from Team Mitchell. Why waste time with useless tuneups? He got the biggest lesson he could ever have with the Banks, which exploited Mitchell’s tendencies to lean in while punching and dropping his hands. Both guys have shown they can hurt each other (Mitchell’s right had Banks holding in the first and he landed a hard body shot before walking into that Banks counter). It’s a dangerous fight, but at 30 years old Mitchell needs to go for it and find out where his ceiling is in the heavyweight division. Like the first, the likelihood of this one seeing the final bell is minimal.
And will 50 Cent pull trigger early and have Yuriorkis Gamboa face Broner in the main event? Gamboa has already declined considering a fight against former rival Juan Manuel Lopez. I doubt it comes off this soon, but what a nice card this would be if both these fights were to come off.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 