On September 22nd Kevin Mitchell will step into the ring for the most important fight of his life. Come midnight Saturday, he will either be World Champion, or on a long journey back up to challenging to be at the top. This journey to World Title challenger hasn’t been without its ups and downs, pursuing this further I interview the Dagenham Destroyer and find out about the man himself. And to pose the question, “Have you got your head right Kev?”
As I leave Dagenham Heathway station on the walk to meet Kevin Mitchell, a man in the street spots a copy of Boxing Monthly on me and he then goes on to tell me how he remembers when Mitchell was up and coming , “everyone thought he was gonna be a world champ” he said as if Kevin Mitchell is no longer with us. As the walk continues I walk past the Dagenham ABC and can see through the condensation in the windows and see young kids working over a bag with wild aggression. This ain’t no playground, these are kids fighting to be something, even at their young age, consequently, I begin to understand how much dedication would be required to reach the heights Mitchell has reached so far.
Within Minutes of meeting it becomes easy to see why Mitchell has amassed such a huge following. He rushes into discussion covering anything from my journey here to the local takeaways, it’s clear that this man knows the price of a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. Mitchell has a terrific record of 34-33-1 and with 24 knockouts it’s apparent to anyone that this boy “can bang”. Added with his superb boxing ability which was showcased against Amir Khans conquerer Bredis Prescott, it makes for an intriguing match up against the Relentless technically gifted Coatbridge fighter Ricky Burns for the WBO World Title.
This was a journey that began at the age of 6 for the passionate Mitchell who describes to me how he used to get into fights on the football pitch with all the built up anger inside of him. He recalls visiting his dads place in Basildon and watching Nigel Benn and Chris Eubanks fights. He was an angry kid and after stints at Karate, football and many other sports, Boxing came to his rescue, and immediately all the extra curricular fighting came to a halt. Although boxing is what everyone associates Mitchell with; like many other boxers it’s not been his only job and he begins to recall stories of working on the London underground, as a fishmonger, and Asbestos stripping with his Dad. He openly admits that his life would be totally different without boxing. His days would be filled with him drinking down the pub and “messing about, and getting up to no good” he describes.
Kevin has had is fair share of injuries notably a serious eye injury which cost the fighter £9,000 to repair and a tendon injury in his left hand which meant the fighter was out of action for 14 months. Mitchell tells me how he loves boxing but it’s a hard game to be in, and he has spent many a night wondering if he should pack it all in or not. He reiterates the point that although money can be great in boxing , “the serious money” only arrives once you’ve picked up a world title and are a few defences down the line. As he talks you can tell he has a plan in mind to secure the future of his two kids , Vince and Connor, that have now fallen asleep beside him.
I quiz Kevin about what he plans to do once he retires; he recites with a steamy determined look in his eyes how he wants to own a few property’s and live predominately abroad. Mitchell also describes how he wants to work with youngsters in schools and help kids like himself through boxing. I push Kevin on some advice for youngsters out there at the moment, he states ” Don’t give up, if your losing, work even harder”.
The West Ham man talks about his maturing process in boxing and how a more mature fighter would have pulled out of the Katsidis bout, in which Mitchell was punished heavily and stopped in the third round. ” I couldn’t let 24,000 people down, even though my head weren’t right.” Although Kevin is renowned for being such a people person he can almost admit that his best asset at times has been his worst, always trying to do best for others, seen at Upton Park that night. This time though, Kevin looks fitter than ever and he later tells me hasn’t touched any booze sine 2011. A problem that plagued his career at times. ” I’m 27 and just wanna concentrate on my career properly and win a world title….then go to fight in Las Vegas”.
The upcoming fight Between Burns and Mitchell is between two genuine, likeable boxers and the boxing fan is hard pressed to pick a winner between the two. As Kevin discusses his best moments to date in boxing, citing the John Murray fight, which allowed him to “prove everyone wrong that doubted him” we eventually come to his lowest moment in boxing. His single loss came to Michael Kastsidis in a World Title eliminator. A fight that has haunted Kevin, as he tells me how he watched the fight for the fourth time the night before since the loss. Although the loss was a blemish on the formally perfect record every boxer craves, it has sent the Dagenham boy on a journey to mature into the boxer that will take to the ring Saturday 22nd September. Wether Kevin wins the fight or not remains to be seen, but what doesn’t is the question I set out to find of; “have you got your head right Kev?.”
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