According to Dan Rafael rising heavyweight contender Seth Mitchell will not be able to compete against Jonathon Banks on July 14th due to an injured hand.
“He injured his right hand in his last fight, which was five weeks ago, but he thought the (injury) would go away,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. “He went to see the doctor and the doctor said that nothing is broken but he recommended that Seth not do any sparring or have any contact for the next 6 to 8 weeks. He is scheduled to see a hand specialist next week and he will be evaluated to see if anything additional needs to be done.”
“If the doctor says the hand needs to be in splint, obviously there is not going to be a fight,” Schaefer said. “You want to make sure he takes care of the injuries and comes back when he’s ready. So I informed HBO about what is going on and we will see what the best way is to replace the fight and take it from there. We have a very good stable of fighters and we will come up with a fight worthy of an HBO ‘World Championship Boxing’ opening bout for July 14.”
“This fight was a great opportunity for Seth in his progress, but our plan remains to get him, within the next 12 months or so, a heavyweight title shot. This is a setback, but it happened. It’s disappointing for the fans, for us and certainly for Seth Mitchell. But I think it is a momentary setback and as soon as he’s cleared to fight he’ll be back on TV.”
Earlier Thursday, Sharif Salim, Mitchell’s manager, denied there was any serious issue with Mitchell’s hand when asked about it by ESPN.com.
“We’re in camp and we’re moving forward,” he said. “Seth fights through a lot of things. There are always bumps and bruises from the last fight, but we are preparing for the fight on July 14. We’re not here to talk about injuries or make excuses.”
