Len Whaley Kevin Mitchell insists he is ready to take on the world after his best-ever display, outpointing Colombian Breidis Prescott in an eliminator for the WBO lightweight crown at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena on Saturday night.

Len Whaley

Kevin Mitchell insists he is ready to take on the world after his best-ever display, outpointing Colombian Breidis Prescott in an eliminator for the WBO lightweight crown at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena on Saturday night.

Big-punching Prescott, who knocked out Amir Khan in 54 seconds last year, was seen as a real dangerman, but 'Mighty Mitch' showed his superior skills to frustrate his opponent.

The 25-year-old former West Ham BC amateur star won the fight by wide margins on all three judges' scorecards, which read 119-110, 118-111, 117-111 in his favour.

"A lot of people thought I was wrong to take the fight and risk my unbeaten record against a big puncher like Prescott, but I wanted to show I was world class by beating him - and I made it an easy fight by sticking to my boxing," said Mitchell this week.

He was quick to praise father-and-son training duo Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, after joining their training camp for the first time at Canning Town's TKO Gym.

"We worked out a game-plan and it went like a dream.

"I wanted to try for a knockout a few times when I knew Prescott was tiring, but all the time Jimmy was telling me in the corner: 'Don't get involved, you are boxing his head off'."

The former British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion was unbeaten in 29 fights going into the contest, but many doubted the wisdom of him moving up a weight division to fight the only man to beat Khan.

"Now I want to step up to face some more big name fighters - I think I showed that I am now ready for the best out there," claimed Mitchell.

He claimed the fringe WBO intercontinental lightweight crown on the undercard of the Amir Khan-Dmitriy Salita promotion and could look forward to a 2010 match with another dangerous rival, Australian banger Michael Katsidis, the WBO's interim champion.

'Mitch' impressed the 10,000 fans at the Metro Radio Arena as he forgot his all-out aggression to stay patient, picking his shots to completely outclass the feared Prescott, and make his rival look amateurish at times.

The local fighter, who was giving away four inches in height, landed with a few solid jabs and left hooks in the early rounds, but for the most part was happy to stay on the back-foot as his tiring rival showed signs of frustration.

His shots were sharp enough to inflict facial damage on the Colombian before the halfway mark as Prescott was eventually reduced to throwing ambitious rights, which Mitchell easily evaded.

Prescott looked a well-beaten fighter as Mitchell continued to use his impressive lateral movement to great effect in the final stages and stayed out of harm's way, avoiding Prescott's increasingly desperate lunges to finish off a punch-perfect display.