Scotland's Ricky Burns (35-2, 10) has had a pretty poor last year or so with several bouts falling through for one reason or another. Since beating Kevin Mitchell way back in September 2012 Burns has moved across the promotional void and gone from Frank Warren to Matchroom Sports and will now be making his first bout under the Matchroom banner.
Burns' first fight under Matchroom sees him defending his WBO Lightweight title against mandatory contender Jose A Gonzalez (22-0, 17), a dangerous though somewhat unknown adversary.
Burns, an excellent boxer has really made his name over the past few years by showing off excellent boxing ability and with out the fan fare of an Amir Khan or David Haye he's become a bit of a British boxing treasure. He's successfully claimed WBO titles at both Super Featherweight and now Lightweight and scored notable wins over Roman Martinez, Michael Katsidis and Kevin Mitchell though has yet to prove his talent in a major bout outside of the UK.
Despite being a former Super Featherweight Burns is a big guy at Lightweight. His height and reach are reflective of a fighter from a division or two higher and whilst he's not a big puncher he does hit harder than his record indicates. Burns' power may well be one of the most over-looked aspects of any active fighter, his crisp, clean shots are hurtful, not concussive but very hurtful when they land clean.
If Burns' record is that of an apparent "non-puncher" (despite my view of the opponent) Gonzalez's record is that of a pure power puncher. The challengers 77% KO rate really speaks for it's self and whilst it can be easy to go "who has he stopped?" he has looked like he hits nearly as hard as his record indicates.
Gonzalez's ranking with the WBO is certainly one of the organisations more "inflated" rankings, though with real confidence, a punchers attitude and the knowledge that everyone has written him off is dangerous. He'd be foolish to try and out box Burns, who is amongst the most skilled "boxers" out there but if he can get in to a slug fest he does stand a chance.
Although we should never write any fighter off Gonzalez is stepping up in several ways. This is his first ever bout scheduled for 12 (and he's only actually been 10 rounds once) and he's stepping in with a genuine world level fighter. To say a Gonzalez win would be an upset would be merely stating the obvious.
On paper a Burns decision seems the most obvious, though I'll actually go against that and say the open, reckless style of Gonzalez is there for Burns to sit on his shots and land clean. Those shots, whilst unlikely to take Gonzalez out cleanly will grind him down before a stoppage becomes a late possibility.
Prediction-Ricky Burns TKO11
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