Connor Mitchell is setting out to do what his father Kevin couldn’t

For Connor Mitchell, there is no escaping the surname. But he isn’t trying to. As he prepares to make his professional debut, the 20 year old junior featherweight understands that the comparisons, the expectations and the questions about his father will follow him into every fight week he enters.

Kevin Mitchell is one of British boxing fans’ most prized possessions. Sharing the ring with world champions and operating at a high level for years, but a world title proved just out of reach. His son Connor is only just starting his journey today at London’s O2 Indigo, yet he is already aware of the history he is stepping into –- even if, for a long time, he did not fully understand just how good his dad actually was.

“Well, I was around boxing since I was like four or five years old,” Mitchell recalled. “I remember being in the gym. To be honest, I didn't know what level my dad was at until I was 14 years old, to be honest. Even when I was 10, 11 and I boxed myself, I still didn't really know how good he was until I started properly sparring, mixing at a good level as an amateur, and then I realised he was good.”

Boxing was always present, but it was not always loved. In fact, there was a period where Mitchell wanted nothing to do with the sport at all, struggling with the pressure that came with being Kevin Mitchell’s son.

“I think I never liked boxing until I was 11 years old, really,” Mitchell said. “I'd done it for a year, I had two fights and then I got robbed in my second amateur fight. Then me and my dad went home one day and he said to me, ‘Give up and go back to football,’ because I couldn't deal with the pressure. I'd walk in a gym and people go, ‘Oh, that's Kevin Mitchell's son,’ this and that. And when I was young, I just couldn't deal with that pressure. So, he said to me, ‘Listen, just go back to football, enjoy yourself and if you want to go back to it one day, you do. If not, don't worry.’”

Football briefly became the focus, including a trial at Chelsea, but boxing had not finished with him. At 14, Mitchell quietly found his own way back, without even telling his dad at first.

“I was at a Chelsea [Football Club] trial and they said to me, you need to get more physical because I was quite small,” said Mitchell. “So, I went back. My mum and stepdad took me to Dagenham Boxing Gym. I didn't even tell my dad. I'd done a bit of training there for a week. And I thought, ‘Do you know what? Actually, I'm going to start boxing.’ And I just left football and never went back to it. My dad took me to West Ham Boxing Club and then I just carried on from there.”

But Mitchell can deal with walking the same path as his famous father before him now?

“You know what, I think from 14, I think I grew up a bit,” he said. “When I was like 10, 11 years old, I just didn't understand that people couldn't just be like, ‘Oh, it's Connor Mitchell.’ But now, it is what it is. Everyone's going to speak about my dad, he was a good fighter. I’ve just got to take it because he was a good fighter. I feel like the pressure now ain't so bad because I've just learned to deal with it. When I was 10, 11 years old, I wasn't what I was now. I was learning. I didn't even really box much before 10 years old. I'd done a bit in the gym but never was actually there. So, I probably didn't believe in myself that good either. But now, I believe in myself. I know how good I am. I don't have no problem with it, really. It's just normal.”

Some of Mitchell’s early reluctance stemmed from watching the realities of the sport up close, seeing the toll it could take long before he was old enough to fully understand it.

“I think when I seen my dad go through the ups and downs, like him losing… As a young kid, I probably didn't understand what it was,” he said. “I just see him down all the time, angry, probably from dieting. Like, money-wise, didn't do great in sport from that. So, it's probably a mix of things. But then when I started at 14, I’ve just loved it ever since.”

Mitchell has seen every one of his father’s fights, though one night in particular remains difficult for him to revisit. A 10-round war with Jorge Linares for the WBC lightweight title.

“The [Jorge] Linares fight, that's the only one that I haven’t watched,” Mitchell said. “It got to the third round of that fight and me and my mum walked out the back and stood out the back. I didn't even speak to him that night. I was so angry, I didn't even watch the fight. I watched three rounds and then left. I was so annoyed at him [for losing] because I didn't understand, obviously. But he would never show the kids, obviously, what he actually felt like, but, yeah, that probably put me off as well, really.”

As he transitions into the professional ranks, Mitchell has leaned on experience — not just from his father, but from others who have lived a similar path. Conor Benn, the fighting son of Nigel Benn, now plays a key role in guiding his career.

“My dad just said, ‘Watch out for all the dogs because, mate, there's so many of them in the game. They're there to help you and then really they're slipping something behind your back.’ So, I was happy that I got Conor Benn on board, because he's been there and done it as well. “Whereas my dad, you don't really want to hear anything from your dad. You want to hear it from someone else. Where Conor's been there and done it as well, and had a father that's boxed at a high level, it's good to hear it from someone else. He sort of protects me from a lot of things. Told me a lot of things, gone through stuff. His whole team's helping me. So, even that, my dad was happy that I made that move and Conor was helping me.”

Last year, Mitchell achieved a milestone that mattered deeply to him and his family. Like his father before him, he won a senior ABA title at 57kg.

“That was my goal, to win a senior ABA title and then turn over,” Mitchell said. “I didn't really want to go to the Olympics or that route. My goal was ABA champion. My dad said, ‘Listen, do that and then you can turn over.’ Until I won that, I wasn’t allowed to turn over.”

It also provided an answer to those quick to dismiss his progress as a result of having the surname of Mitchell.

“Not a lot of people in this area have even won an ABA title. They can't really say that about me because I've done it as an amateur. Most people don’t have many fights as an amateur and then turn pro. Then they have that, ‘Oh, you only did it because of your dad.’ Mate, I've won an ABA title. How many people have really won that? Not many. They can't say that to me.”

Despite three attempts, Kevin Mitchell was unable to reach the pinnacle of the sport and bring a world championship back home to Connor and the rest of the family. Young Connor hopes to show his dad how it’s done.

“People always ask me, like, what's your thing? I just say, ‘Sitting there with a belt and, like, sitting at the table and just going, ‘I won one, you didn't,’ and he'd just laugh. Obviously he'd love it if I won one, but just saying it to him would be a good joke. I want to win a world title, and especially a WBC.”

Tonight, Connor Mitchell begins finding out whether he can finish a story his father took to the very edge.