SETH MITCHELL DISCUSSES HIS INJURY
By John McCormick

JM: Seth, you were recently scheduled to face Jonathon Banks on July 14th. But that fight has now been cancelled due to an injury that you suffered. Can you please tell us what happened?

Seth Mitchell: The injury happened during my last fight against Chazz Witherspoon [which Mitchell won by third-round stoppage]. Looking back, I don’t remember any particular punch that actually hurt my hand but after the fight I had some swelling in my knuckle. It wasn’t in too much pain, it wasn’t aching, and it wasn’t throbbing so I just figured that I would treat it for two or three weeks and that would be all. Golden Boy [Promotions] then scheduled a July 14th date for me. Before that, I had been going to the gym but I just hadn’t been using my right hand. Once the fight was scheduled, I noticed that the swelling still hadn’t gone down. That is when I went to the doctor and got the x-rays, which came back negative. After an MRI, the doctor said I had sprained the knuckle in my middle finger. That is when I had to report the news to Golden Boy. I didn’t want to wait it out and see if the swelling would go down only to have to find out something is wrong a few weeks before the fight and then have Golden Boy try to find a replacement, I wanted to give them ample time to find a replacement.

JM: How long did the doctor say the injury will take to heal?

SM: I just have to rest and stay off of it for four or five weeks. After that, I will get back into the transition of hitting the pads and sparring. I am still training and staying in shape. I am doing everything except using my right hand.

JM: When the hand is healed up and you are eligible to fight again, will you still be fighting Jonathan Banks?

SM: Hopefully, but I don’t know. We haven’t talked about that yet but I hope I get the opportunity to fight him. I feel bad for myself, as well as Jonathan Banks because I understand that this is a business and people have to put food on the table. This has happened to me before when I was supposed to fight on Robert Guerrero’s undercard and he got injured and they scratched the whole card. I understand how it feels, so hopefully me and Jonathan Banks can still fight down the road.

JM: I know that your management team has a well-developed plan for your career in regards to preparing you to take on one of the Klitschko brothers next year. Does this injury push a fight with one of the Klitschko’s even further into the future?

SM: Hopefully, I can still fight two more times in 2012. Notice that I always preface those types of statements with “Lord willing, there are no setbacks or injuries.” I have been very blessed and fortunate in my career that this is my first time having to pull out of a fight, ever. I am glad that it is a small injury but it comes with the territory. Hopefully, I can still fight two more times this year. I believe I will be back in the ring sometime in September and then come right back in December. If not, I’ll fight one more time this year. If that is the case, it will probably push the Klitschko fight back a bit but hopefully I can face one of them sometime next year.

JM: What are your thoughts on the random drug testing in boxing? Would this be something that you would be interested in for your fights in the future?

Seth Mitchell: That would absolutely interest me in the future. Before all of these recent scandals, I felt that it was a positive for boxing anyway. In all sports you have athletes using all types of drugs so I feel it should be implemented. I am sure it is a financial burden to have it done for all fights but when fighting on an elite level, the random drug testing should be mandatory.

JM: Any closing thoughts for the fans?

SM: I want to thank everybody for their prayers and support. To all my fans, please continue to keep me in your prayers as I heal up from this hand injury. Hands are very fragile in this sport and I am a power puncher so I need my hands to be 100%. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts and I can’t wait to get back into the ring to give you some more exciting fights in the heavyweight division. My fans can follow me on twitter at @sethmayhem48.

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