Kevin Mitchell – Daniel Estrada Fight Recap

By Doctor Ibrahim Hussain

Kevin Mitchell stepped into the ring against Daniel Estrada looking like he had been injected with a new lease of life. He boxed better than any other time of his life and showed outstanding upper body movement as well as calculated combinations between footwork that Fred Astaire would be proud of.

Mitchell was not troubled once in the first two rounds, and was throwing punches from all angles, while slipping all the returning shots from Estrada who had significant reach advantage.

In the third round Mitchell floored Estrada with a right hook following a combination, but Estrada fought back bravely catching Mitchell, but not causing him any real concern. It then looked like Mitchell was going to finish business in the third, but Estrada survived the round only to enter the 4th on the back foot with Mitchell continuing to evade any meaningful swinging crosses by Estrada.

Mitchell maintained his systematic breakdown of the Mexican with precise head movement and sharp clean combinations, often hitting home with lead uppercuts that kept the London crowd on their feet.

Mitchell used Estrada’s height advantage to his benefit by often ducking down low and rolling his body throughout the fight making it awkward for Estrada, rarely throwing any uppercuts, which are often an effective tool for a tall fighter who faces a shorter opponent.

In the fifth and sixth Mitchell continued to take the fight to Estrada, looking sharp.

From the seventh round it looks clear that Estrada was not going to get back into the fight, despite carrying on with his right eye gradually closing.

It’s fair to say that Estrada may not have been at his career best, having faced adversity more recently following with the loss of his sister in a fatal car accident.

The 8th round started with Mitchell looking as sharp as he had throughout the fight, with Estrada gradually being broken down and taking many headshots. The referee quite rightly stepped in with almost two minutes still to go, and ended the one-sided battle without any objection from Daniel Estrada, who will now have to think seriously about his future in boxing and possible retirement. However given that Mitchell was also considering retirement following his loss to Ricky Burns, a comeback in the fight game is never out of the question.

For now Kevin Mitchell can relish his WBC Silver title, but more importantly his spot as mandatory challenger for the WBC world title will likely be fought against Venezuelan Jorge Linares should he not move up in weight divisions before then.

However, a head to head with Terrence Crawford may also be on the horizon, which could also open up the riches and excitement of fighting in the US.