By Ian S Palmer
American heavyweights Johnathon Banks and Seth Mitchell will square off in a highly-anticipated 12-round rematch at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday June 22. Banks beat Mitchell by a second-round stoppage in their first meeting back in November.
Banks will enter the ring with a solid record of 29-1-1 with 19 Kos while Mitchell’s mark is almost identical at 25-1-1 with 19 Kos. Mitchell, a former college football player, has all of the tools, including good size and power, but apparently his weak spot is his chin. At least in was in the first meeting with Banks. This is Mitchell’s chance to redeem himself and show he was caught cold in November, but it’s also possible he could suffer the same fate.
Mitchell, who hails from Brandywine Maryland, isn’t exactly a young man anymore at 31 years of age so this is an important bout for somebody who was recently considered to be one of America’s top heavyweight hopes. He’s stronger and bigger than Banks, but it didn’t help him in the first fight even though he had a 24 lb weight advantage over him. Mitchell turned pro in 2008 with his biggest wins being against Chazz Witherspoon, Timur Ibragimov, and Taurus Sykes.
Banks is from Detroit and fights out of the Kronk Gym. He’s actually a year younger than Mitchell. He was a three time champion as a national amateur and has been a little underrated as a pro. He’s got a lot of skill and smarts inside the ring and showed in the first fight that he’s got pretty good power and can overcome certain physical disadvantages. He’s got an inch height on Mitchell though at 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-2. Their reach is about the same at 76 inches.
Banks turned pro back in 2004. He’s also been promoted to head trainer for heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko after the death of his former trainer Emanuel Steward near the end of October. Steward was also Banks’ trainer. Banks started out as a cruiserweight and moved to the heavyweight division a few years ago after Tomasz Adamek stopped him in the eighth round in an IBF cruiserweight title bout in 2009. Adamek has been his toughest opponent to date and he’s also fought a few other decent boxers such as Saul Montana and Travis Walker. However, other than that most of his opponents have been journeymen.
Look for Mitchell to be more cautious this time around. He respects Banks’ power and skills and the first fight’s going to play on his mind. He’s going to have to make sure he gets a couple of rounds under his legs to gain some confidence. However, Banks may just go out and try to take him out early. If it worked for him the first time he might try it again. If he gets caught the worst that happens is a loss and a third bout between the two. There are a lot of possibilities here, but look for Banks to stop him again for a second straight win over Mitchell.
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