In the past few weeks the British list of world champions has changed quite a bit with Nathan Cleverly losing his WBO Light Heavyweight title whilst Darren Barker Claimed the IBF Middleweight title. One man hoping not to get caught up in the title shuffle will be WBO Lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2, 11) who looks to make the fourth defense of his title as he takes on the dangerous, over hugely under-rated Raymundo Beltran (28-6, 17).
Although Burns will go into the fight as a rightful favourite as not only the champion but also the home fighter, fighting in his native Scotland the odds I've seen listed seem rather astonishing, favouring Burns at 1/4 (1.25) for a fight that is actually much tougher than they bookies seem to think.
Burns at his best, is a highly skilled boxer, who in recent bouts, notably the victory against Kevin Mitchell, appeared to be adding a punch to his boxing skills. Typically he's shown good timing, a clever understanding of the ring, a crisp jab and a lovely selection of shots. At his worst however, as we saw last time out against Jose Gonzalez, he's a pedestrian fighter who can be made to look slow and robotic.
Aged just 30 Burns is partaking in his 9th straight world title fight and standing at 5'10" he is a tall and rangy Lightweight. Whilst many have merely said "he won" the Gonzalez fight due to Gonzalez "quitting" I dare say that Burns is now struggling with the Lightweight limit, thus his awful performance that night was as much to do with Gonzalez, who was admittedly skilled, as a possible issues with the 135lb division.
Although I'm sure others will disagree, if Burns is struggling with 135lbs this fight really could be very, very difficult for him, and it could well explain the lack of energy and timing he showed against Gonzalez.
If you just look at Beltran's record, as I'm sure the bookies have done, you'd see a record of someone who perhaps hasn't shown anything to prove his worth at world. A quick review of his record however shows that he's become a bit of a bad luck story and in fact he could well boast a 32-2 (17) record with all 4 of his decision losses being controversial.
In fact if Beltran's close decision losses had gone his way not only would he have a very solid looking record in terms of numbers but his recent run of victories would look to be amongst the best in the division. Whilst he has scored genuine victories over Ji-Hoon Kim and Henry Lundy he would also have added victories over Sharif Bogere and Luis Ramos Jr in his last 6 bouts. Lets be honest Kim, Lundy, Bogere and Ramos might not be world champions but all 4 are "in the mix".
Beltran may not be the most skilled or the hardest hitter in the sport but he's in your face warrior. He'll refuse to back up and instead he'll force the fight for the full distance. He'll be in your face and try to beat you whether it's the first round or the last and in fact if you let Beltran know he's the under-dog he seems more determined than ever to prove himself.
Entering as the under-dog Beltran is going to come in to this fight with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove. Whilst he'll know the playing field is stacked against him he'll know it's not impossible to upset opponents and if my theory that Burns is struggling at 135 turns out to be right we may well be shocked here.
Prediction-Burns by SD12 (Probably a controversial result)
Showing posts with label WBO Lightweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WBO Lightweight. Show all posts
Friday, 6 September 2013
Friday, 10 May 2013
Ricky Burns v Jose A Gonzalez
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
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
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Ricky Burns v Kevin Mitchell
Arguably the highlight of this coming weekend is the all British WBO Lightweight title bout between champion Ricky Burns (34-2, 9) and highly regarded challenger Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24). Not only is it an all British affair but it's also got the added spice of being Scotland v England adding further to what is arguably the most anticipated all British fight of the year.
Scotland's Ricky Burns lacked the hype early in his career that many others got and as a result he wasn't matched in a way that many other top fighters are. In fact for the first few years of his career his was given really very little in terms of developmental fights before being thrown in with then then British Lightweight champion Graham Earl, who he unexpectedly defeated back in 2005 (when Earl was 22-0, whilst Burns was just 9-0).
Despite scoring the upset victory over Earl he was still not acknowledged as a genuinely promising young fighter and was instead thrown to the wolves against Alex Arthur just a few bouts later. At that time Arthur was the European, British and Commonwealth champion at Super Featherweight with a record of 21-1, his experienced told and he showed up the inexperienced Burns by taking a wide decision.
Burns would suffer his second loss just a year later as the hard hitting Carl Johanneson defeated him in a British Super Featherweight title clash. This seemed to be the turning point and Burns would almost re-start his career. Burns began facing journeymen once again before rebuilding his confidence and swiftly moving on to claim his first professional title, the Commonwealth Super Featherweight title. He would defend this title 3 times before moved on to his first world title fight.
In 2010 Burns announced himself to the boxing world by out pointing the highly regarded Puerto Rican Roman Martinez for the WBO Super Featherweight title. He would defend this title 3 times before moving up to Lightweight where he would quickly claim the WBO "interim" Lightweight title with an upset over the hard hitting Australian Michael Katsidis. The interim title quickly got upgraded to the full version of the title and Burns has since managed a solitary defense by out pointing Paulus Moses last time out.
Stood at 5'10" it's a wonder that Burns ever managed to fight at Super Featherweight, he looks huge at Lightweight and must have been really taking a lot out of himself at 130. Despite looking huge at 135lbs he's not actually a big puncher, instead he's a classic boxer who uses his jab and movement to control range, whilst also being able to mix it off the ropes. Whilst I doubt few will agree, Burns is amongst the best pure boxers in the sport and if he relies on his boxing ability I can only see 1 man at Lightweight beating him (Miguel Vazquez).
If Ricky Burns is seen as British boxing's "over-achiever" of modern times then Kevin Mitchell is almost certainly British boxing's under-achiever. When he turned professional back in 2003 it was expected that Mitchell would swiftly rise through the ranks. He had looked sensational in claiming an ABA title and was seen almost as a certainty to be fast tracked towards a world title. Sadly however he has yet to realise his professional boxing dream of being a world champion.
Mitchell's early years as a professional were not only very highly hyped but he was also developed properly. In his 17th fight Mitchell claimed his first professional title by winning the IBF Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title and less than a year later Mitchell added the Commonwealth title to his collection. It was seen that he was being allowed to develop and move forward at a comfortable speed rather than being rushed into bouts against opponents that he stood little to no chance to defeat.
Despite having claimed the IBF Inter-continental and Commonwealth titles Mitchell's career started to stall somewhat. His good match making had taken him to a solid level but he just seemed to be stuck on a plateau of sorts with no moving upwards and onwards. He held the IBF Super Feather Inter-Continental title for almost 2 years and yet never moved onto a world title bout as the IBF world title was passed around various weak champions such as Gairy St Clair and Cassius Baloyi.
After wasting over 3 years treading water at Super Featherweight Mitchell moved to Lightweight and swiftly made an impact by thoroughly out boxing the hard hitting Colombian Breidis Prescott. Mitchell followed up the excellent performance over Prescott by stopping Ignacio Mendoza in eye catching fashion before getting his first world title fight against Michael Katsidis.
Mitchell was given the big build up to face Katsidis, not only was the bout at the home of Mitchell's beloved West Ham United, but he also had the "Cockney Rejects" singing his entrance music. Sadly however Mitchell got caught by a hard Katsidis shot in round 3 and was soon stopped as the Australian started to let his hands go.
Following the loss to Katsidis, it quickly emerged that Mitchell hadn't trained particularly hard for the fight as various problems outside the ring distracted him. Sadly this appeared to be a case of a losing fighter making excuses for a poor performances rather than just admitting he was beaten by the better man.
Since his loss to Katsidis, Mitchell has bounced back well with victories over John Murray (TKO8) and Felix Lora (Pts10) and now appears determined to finally reach his potential as world champion. He appears to be in a good mindset and seems to have been training well for this bout knowing that it's his big chance at redemption. Mitchell will know perfectly well that fans will not put up with excuses this time and that he needs to deliver.
In terms of his style Mitchell is a very talented fighter who can really do pretty much anything. He has heavy powerful hands that can hurt pretty much anyone, he's got fast hands that can throw beautiful counters and combinations and has very solid footwork which can be used both defensively and offensively. In fact in terms of talent Mitchell may well be one of the very best fighters out there at the moment to have never claimed a world title.
Whilst Mitchell is hugely talented I can't help but think stylistically he's going to really struggle here. Burns may only be slightly bigger but he uses his size so well, his jab is excellent at controlling range and his movement is exceptional. If Mitchell cannot get inside of Burns' jab and straight right hand he'll not have a chance and will easily be out boxed by a fighter who may not have real power but does have snap on his punches. If Mitchell can get inside Burns he can do damage, and could force a stoppage if he can do it often enough, though I think his successes will be limited.
Prediction-Ricky Burns by UD12
Scotland's Ricky Burns lacked the hype early in his career that many others got and as a result he wasn't matched in a way that many other top fighters are. In fact for the first few years of his career his was given really very little in terms of developmental fights before being thrown in with then then British Lightweight champion Graham Earl, who he unexpectedly defeated back in 2005 (when Earl was 22-0, whilst Burns was just 9-0).
Despite scoring the upset victory over Earl he was still not acknowledged as a genuinely promising young fighter and was instead thrown to the wolves against Alex Arthur just a few bouts later. At that time Arthur was the European, British and Commonwealth champion at Super Featherweight with a record of 21-1, his experienced told and he showed up the inexperienced Burns by taking a wide decision.
Burns would suffer his second loss just a year later as the hard hitting Carl Johanneson defeated him in a British Super Featherweight title clash. This seemed to be the turning point and Burns would almost re-start his career. Burns began facing journeymen once again before rebuilding his confidence and swiftly moving on to claim his first professional title, the Commonwealth Super Featherweight title. He would defend this title 3 times before moved on to his first world title fight.
In 2010 Burns announced himself to the boxing world by out pointing the highly regarded Puerto Rican Roman Martinez for the WBO Super Featherweight title. He would defend this title 3 times before moving up to Lightweight where he would quickly claim the WBO "interim" Lightweight title with an upset over the hard hitting Australian Michael Katsidis. The interim title quickly got upgraded to the full version of the title and Burns has since managed a solitary defense by out pointing Paulus Moses last time out.
Stood at 5'10" it's a wonder that Burns ever managed to fight at Super Featherweight, he looks huge at Lightweight and must have been really taking a lot out of himself at 130. Despite looking huge at 135lbs he's not actually a big puncher, instead he's a classic boxer who uses his jab and movement to control range, whilst also being able to mix it off the ropes. Whilst I doubt few will agree, Burns is amongst the best pure boxers in the sport and if he relies on his boxing ability I can only see 1 man at Lightweight beating him (Miguel Vazquez).
If Ricky Burns is seen as British boxing's "over-achiever" of modern times then Kevin Mitchell is almost certainly British boxing's under-achiever. When he turned professional back in 2003 it was expected that Mitchell would swiftly rise through the ranks. He had looked sensational in claiming an ABA title and was seen almost as a certainty to be fast tracked towards a world title. Sadly however he has yet to realise his professional boxing dream of being a world champion.
Mitchell's early years as a professional were not only very highly hyped but he was also developed properly. In his 17th fight Mitchell claimed his first professional title by winning the IBF Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title and less than a year later Mitchell added the Commonwealth title to his collection. It was seen that he was being allowed to develop and move forward at a comfortable speed rather than being rushed into bouts against opponents that he stood little to no chance to defeat.
Despite having claimed the IBF Inter-continental and Commonwealth titles Mitchell's career started to stall somewhat. His good match making had taken him to a solid level but he just seemed to be stuck on a plateau of sorts with no moving upwards and onwards. He held the IBF Super Feather Inter-Continental title for almost 2 years and yet never moved onto a world title bout as the IBF world title was passed around various weak champions such as Gairy St Clair and Cassius Baloyi.
After wasting over 3 years treading water at Super Featherweight Mitchell moved to Lightweight and swiftly made an impact by thoroughly out boxing the hard hitting Colombian Breidis Prescott. Mitchell followed up the excellent performance over Prescott by stopping Ignacio Mendoza in eye catching fashion before getting his first world title fight against Michael Katsidis.
Mitchell was given the big build up to face Katsidis, not only was the bout at the home of Mitchell's beloved West Ham United, but he also had the "Cockney Rejects" singing his entrance music. Sadly however Mitchell got caught by a hard Katsidis shot in round 3 and was soon stopped as the Australian started to let his hands go.
Following the loss to Katsidis, it quickly emerged that Mitchell hadn't trained particularly hard for the fight as various problems outside the ring distracted him. Sadly this appeared to be a case of a losing fighter making excuses for a poor performances rather than just admitting he was beaten by the better man.
Since his loss to Katsidis, Mitchell has bounced back well with victories over John Murray (TKO8) and Felix Lora (Pts10) and now appears determined to finally reach his potential as world champion. He appears to be in a good mindset and seems to have been training well for this bout knowing that it's his big chance at redemption. Mitchell will know perfectly well that fans will not put up with excuses this time and that he needs to deliver.
In terms of his style Mitchell is a very talented fighter who can really do pretty much anything. He has heavy powerful hands that can hurt pretty much anyone, he's got fast hands that can throw beautiful counters and combinations and has very solid footwork which can be used both defensively and offensively. In fact in terms of talent Mitchell may well be one of the very best fighters out there at the moment to have never claimed a world title.
Whilst Mitchell is hugely talented I can't help but think stylistically he's going to really struggle here. Burns may only be slightly bigger but he uses his size so well, his jab is excellent at controlling range and his movement is exceptional. If Mitchell cannot get inside of Burns' jab and straight right hand he'll not have a chance and will easily be out boxed by a fighter who may not have real power but does have snap on his punches. If Mitchell can get inside Burns he can do damage, and could force a stoppage if he can do it often enough, though I think his successes will be limited.
Prediction-Ricky Burns by UD12
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