Heavyweights Mitchell, Banks' paths could cross again

• Mitchell hopes to fight Klitschko for the world championship maybe two fights down the road

The heavyweight showdown Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City could come down to which fighter is more inspired.

Johnathon Banks, the 30-year-old from Detroit, has plenty behind his source of inspiration.

Banks is still reeling from the death of his longtime mentor and father figure, the great trainer Emanuel Steward, who died Oct. 25 at the age of 68. Banks worked his way up the boxing ladder with Steward at Detroit's Kronk Gym, learning most everything he knows from the master cornerman.

Ironically, Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell's source of inspiration also comes from the state of Michigan.

Mitchell, 30, a former Michigan State University linebacker, bleeds Spartan green, and his alma mater is having a rough go of it this fall, sitting 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten. He would love nothing more than to give his old team a boost by beating a man from Detroit.

Mitchell (25-0, 19 KOs) vs. Banks (28-1, 18 KOs) is the co-main event on HBO's World Championship Boxing card (10 p.m. ET) that features the WBC lightweight title fight between champion Antonio DeMarco and Adrien Broner.

Mitchell's future could be intertwined with Banks' even beyond Saturday's 12-round bout.

At the time of Steward's death, he was the trainer for Wladimir Klitschko, the almost undisputed heavyweight champion of the world (He holds all of the major titles but one, which is held by his brother Vitali). Banks, who had worked out and sparred with Klitschko for nearly all of the nine years that Steward trained both, has taken over as Klitschko's trainer, despite being six years younger than the Ukrainian fighter.

Steward's funeral was in Detroit on Tuesday, and Banks and Klitschko attended, just three days after Klitschko scored a unanimous decision against Polish fighter Mariusz Wach in Hamburg, with Banks in his corner.

Mitchell's eventual target on his rise through the heavyweight ranks is Wladimir Klitschko.

Should Mitchell, who weighed in Friday at 242 pounds, defeat Banks (218.5) on Saturday, they will almost certainly meet again.

"I'm not underestimating (Banks); I expect him to bring his 'A' game," Mitchell said during a recent conference call with news reporters. "And with the unfortunate passing of Emanuel Steward -- may his soul rest in peace -- that probably is going to bring more excitement and more enthusiasm out of Johnathon Banks, which is only going to make for a better fight. But at the end of the day, my hand will be raised."

Banks, whose last fight was a unanimous decision victory against Nicolai Firtha in Munich in February, said training a world champion to fight a week before his own fight was not as tough as it sounds.

"It's all a part of boxing; I'm a fan of boxing, I love boxing, and it's just all a part of it," Banks said. "I didn't have to step outside the sport ... one time. It actually sounds harder than what it really was. It wasn't an easy task. It had a little difficulties because, like I said, I had a big fight coming up and I also had to get Wladimir ready for his big fight. But I thought that I handled it pretty well. I'm glad his fight is over, and I'm looking forward to mine."

Banks is obviously coming off several emotional weeks. He hopes to work it to his advantage.

"I really think about a lot of things Emanuel told me; when it comes to fighting, you have to shut everything out," Banks said. "Fighting is like going to war; you have to shut everything out and you've got to go to war. No matter what's going on at home, when you got to go, you got to go, and that's just the situation that it is at hand. Saturday night, I have to go. No matter what's going on this week, no matter what's going on last month, on Saturday night, I have to be prepared to go."

Mitchell, from Brandywine, Md., has issues of his own, mainly nearly getting knocked out in the first round of his last fight against Chazz Witherspoon. Mitchell withstood Witherspoon's onslaught on wobbly legs and came back two rounds later to knock out his opponent. He also injured his hand in that fight, which caused his bout against Banks to be pushed back.

He says the hand is healthy, and he has worked on his defense and hopes to avoid such precarious situations in the future.

"I don't necessarily go out there looking for knockouts," said Mitchell, who has 10 KOs in a row and 12 in his last 13 fights. "I come to fight, I'll tell you that much, but I just try to put my punches together at a high work rate for a heavyweight, and I just point that behind my jab and the knockouts have been coming.

"But if I need to change my style for this particular fight, I'm capable of doing that. A lot of people think that I'm just a bull, but if I have to be a matador, I definitely can do that. I believe that I possess all the skills. I have decent power in both hands, good speed, I'm very athletic. I have only had to show one or two things, but if I have to show something else, you'll see that as well."