In a fight originally scheduled for July 14. Seth Mitchell (25-0-1, 19 knockouts) had been slated to fight Jonathan Banks in Las Vegas that evening as the co-main event on a card that also featured Amir Khan against Danny Garcia. The fight was postponed due to a sprained MCL in Mitchell’s right hand. The injury occurred in Mitchell’s bout against Chazz Witherspoon on April 28 in Atlantic City.
Now the fight’s back on a new date and is set for October 6, 2012. Johnathon Banks is looking forward to coming to Atlantic City but not only to win the fight but also trade places with Seth Mitchell in regards to status, Banks added. “Number one I believe in both of them (Role reversal), I believe that in beating Seth Mitchell, his status, the way they look at him as a heavyweight, I’ll be that. I’ll be looked at as that but I find that at this point in my career, if I win, I’ll plan to go even higher.”
Banks, 28-1-1(18), is a 30-year-old former cruiserweight from Detroit. Banks, now as a heavyweight is unbeaten having compiled a decent 8-0-1 record since moving up from cruiserweight where he failed in a challenge of IBF ruler Tomasz Adamek. Banks, who has been halted once, only by Adamek in the 8th round of a decent back and forth fight.
Having learned a lot from sparring countless rounds with the Klitschko brothers is one of the ways that Banks has stayed busy from the first fight falling out until now, stopping any hopes of a inactive Jonathan Banks. Banks added, “Inactivity no. Inactivity will not hurt me in what so ever way, I’ve been staying in training camps with both of the Klitschko brothers. So inactivity will not hurt me at all.”
Mitchell is the touted, prospect the one most have there’s chips on, forcing Banks into the opponent role against the fact that he is the more achieved boxer and battle tested. The fight will be on what is considered Mitchell’s home turf in Atlantic City New Jersey where many of his fans make the trip to watch him fight. The cards will be stacked against Banks as he will be the blue corner on fight night and the commentators will be pro Mitchell.
Mitchell’s last time out, he fought in a packed crowd of 7,500 plus people, and he also been on HBO on more than one occasion. “To me it’s on a bigger stage but it’s just another day at the office. This is what I do, I’m a fighter. I go out and I fight, the people, the arena, the lights the cameras; it won’t affect me. It never has, it never will. It’s not like I haven’t fought in front of thousands of people before, or like I never fought on T.V before, so that part there will not affect me in no way shape, form, or fashion. I understand what I have in front me, I understand this is a big opportunity and I will go out and seize the moment,” added Banks on whether the spotlight would be too big for him.
So many time the fighter that’s supposed to win gets the win whether he deserved it or not. This year we’ve witness horrible decision in boxing with fights like Pacquiao vs. Bradley, Cloud vs. Campillo, and Rios vs. Abril. Banks was asked on his plans to keep this fight out of the judges hands and from falling on that list of terrible decisions, Banks said, “Exactly this is their guy(Seth Mitchell). My plan is to bring my judges with me, the fight is in my hands and I will see to it that it starts that way and that it will end that way.”
Seth Mitchell faced adversity in his last fight and was able to overcome it and pull away with the win, but made mistakes. The most obvious was not having an answer for the over hand right by Witherspoon. Banks agrees and gave us his thoughts on Mitchell’s last fight. “Well I want to say I seen a lot of wild shots from him (Seth Mitchell), it’s not really what Mitchell did, it’s what Witherspoon didn’t do, it’s what cost him the fight. If you think about it, it’s what Witherspoon didn’t do that won Mitchell the fight. Witherspoon never stepped back and jabbed at the guy, maybe hooking around him, he never did any of that. He (Witherspoon) stood there and took the punches that he was basically receiving.”
Of course, there is a chance Banks may fall into “sparring partner mode” on October 6th, but also receiving that caliber of sparring could also prove to be a detrimental role in him winning this fight. Banks has the opportunity to make his mark on the heavyweight division come October 6, 2012 and he seems to have every intention of doing just that, I’m picking a possible upset for this fight. He states, “Hey man you and me both, the only difference is I don’t want to be the one being upset. I’m telling you now it’s going to be a good fight and with what I want to do, the fight is on a Saturday, the Monday or even that Sunday I want you to call me and we are going to have a lot to laugh about believe me.”
For Full Audio of this interview click here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theboxingvoiceradioshow/2012/07/29/jonathan-banka-and-raymundo-beltran
