By Ian S. Palmer
Heavyweights Jonathon Banks and Seth Mitchell will face each other at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Nov. 17 in a contest for the vacant WBC International Heavyweight Championship.
The 30-year-old Banks hails from Detroit, Michigan and 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. He’s got decent size at 6-foot-3 with a 76-inch reach. His last contest took place on Feb. 18 when he won a 12-round unanimous decision over Nicolai Firtha in Germany. The loss to Adamek is the only blemish on the record as he’s 28-1-1 with 18 KOs.
The 30-year-old Mitchell, who hails from Brandywine, Maryland is a former Michigan State Spartan football player who stands 6-foot-2 with a 76-inch reach. He’s undefeated since turning pro in 2008 with a 25-0-1 record along with 20 KOs. His toughest opponents so far have been Chazz Witherspoon, Timur Ibragimov, and Taurus Sykes. His last bout was a third-round TKO over Witherspoon on April 28 for the vacant NABO Heavyweight Title.
Mitchell has a lot of power and that’s probably going to be the difference in this fight. Banks is a decent boxer, but if he can’t stand up to Mitchell’s heavy-handed shots then he won’t last the distance. Mitchell also has some boxing skills and has pretty good hand speed. Banks will need to try and stay out of Mitchell’s range, but it’s a boxing match and sooner or later he’s going to get hit. The bout will then depend on how Banks reacts after tasting the leather from Banks’ gloves.
It’s hard to tell how solid Mitchell’s chin is since it hasn’t really been tested in his bouts up to now. He’s done well as a pro boxer, especially considering he didn’t take the sport up until 2006. He had a limited amateur career and finished it with a record of 9-1 with 9 KOs. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts if his shots don’t affect Banks and if he’s getting out boxed. He could become frustrated while looking for a knockout punch or might just relax and use his boxing skills. Banks, on the other hand, won three national titles during an extensive amateur career.
Prediction
Banks will be facing one of the hardest bangers of his career in Mitchell and he has to make sure that he’s not giving Mitchell too much respect. He’ll have to show his opponent that he has superior boxing skills and also has some power of his own. But when all’s said and done, look for Mitchell to eventually stop Banks anytime after the fourth round.
