Kevin Mitchell looks to Frank Bruno for inspiration ahead of world champion bid

London lightweight boxer Kevin Mitchell is aiming for a first world-title
Mitchell will face WBC titlist Venezuelan Jorge Linares on Saturday
The boxer says he is stronger and more secure than he has ever been
He is looking to Frank Bruno for inspiration ahead of the fight

Published:
13:57 GMT, 29 May 2015

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Updated:
21:33 GMT, 29 May 2015

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Kevin Mitchell is turning to Frank Bruno for inspiration ahead of Saturday’s world-title fight against Jorge Linares.

The London lightweight challenges Venezuela’s dangerous WBC titlist at The O2 Arena in what is likely his last chance to become a professional world champion.

Mitchell’s previous bids for world honours – when losing to Michael Katsidis for the WBO interim title in May 2010 and then-WBO champion Ricky Burns in September 2012 – and the lack of professionalism that undermined them have been widely documented.

Kevin Mitchell (right) is looking to Frank Bruno for inspiration ahead of a world-title bout with Jorge Linares

Mitchell flexes his muscles at the weigh-in for the fight with Venezuelan Linares

Now, with a new trainer in Tony Sims and promoter in Eddie Hearn, he insists he is finally giving his career the dedication it deserves, and that in fellow-Londoner Bruno – whose attempts to become a world champion spanned two decades and three devastating defeats prior to his defining night – he has an additional motivation in the ring.

‘Bruno had four chances,’ Mitchell told Sportsmail of the man who lost to Tim Witherspoon, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis before defeating Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium in 1995 to become WBC heavyweight champion.

‘Of course he inspires me. You can lose and come back, 100 per cent. Perhaps after this fight I’m gonna be world champion. I might have three or four defences, come back and get beat again, it’s not the end of the world.

‘The fights I’ve lost have made me who I am. The lifestyle I’ve led has made me who I am. And I think I’m more strong and more secure than I’ve ever been.

‘I wouldn’t say it’s my last chance for a world title. I’ll win another world title after I win this one. ‘

The London lightweight says he is stronger and more secure than he has ever been

It is likely to be his last chance to become a professional world champion

Mitchell produced a career-best performance to stop Mexico’s Daniel Estrada in eight rounds in his most recent fight, in January.

His form, however, was also impressive in the build-up to his only two defeats, by Katsidis and Burns, suggesting that for all of his natural talent, it is that final step up to world level with which he will always struggle.

‘Back then it was hit and miss with me, I was out partying, I could pull out performances against [Breidis] Prescott and opponents like that but against Katsidis I was out at like two in the morning, the night before the fight. It was pathetic, really,’ Mitchell said.

The lightweight boxer has failed twice in attempts to gain world honours before, in 2010 and 2012

‘The difference is now I’ve matured. I’m with a good team, I’m with a secure team. I think Tony [Sims] brings out the best of me, so does Eddie [Hearn] as a promoter, and where I am in my stage of life now, it’s different.

‘When I was a kid I was always out getting arrested, partying, training, partying, getting arrested. It didn’t work, but at the time you couldn’t tell me no different because I didn’t care. I always lived in the fast lane.

‘Linares is clever, sharp, slick, smart, but he fights pretty and he fights scared. He likes things his own way, at his own work-rate, and I’ll capitalise on it.’