John Murray-Kevin Mitchell Set for July 9

The fight between European lightweight champion John Murray and Kevin Mitchell finally has a date. The two will meet on July 9 at a venue yet to be announced in London.

Murray (31-0, 18 KO) and Mitchell (31-1, 23 KO) are coming in at very different points in their careers, even more different than it would seem on paper. While Manchester's Murray is unbeaten and looking for a final step toward landing a major title shot, Dagenham's Mitchell lost his last fight badly to Michael Katsidis in May 2010, and recently made headlines in a reported drug bust at his mother's home.

The fight was rumored earlier this year but fell apart once, and it appeared that the accusations against Mitchell might have canceled the fight again, but it will go ahead.

Mitchell is a former Commonwealth and British champion at 130 pounds. Murray won the British lightweight title in 2007 and again in 2009 (he was stripped of the belt for failing to make weight in a previous bout), and claimed the European title last year with a defeat of Gary Buckland.