By Ian S Palmer
Ricky Burns of Scotland will be attempting to defend his WBO Lightweight Championship in front of his home fans in Glasgow on Saturday September 7 when he takes on Raymundo Beltran of Mexico. For the 30-year-old Burns it will be the fourth defence of his title and he’ll enter the ring with a 36-2 record along with 11 Kos. The 32-year-old veteran Beltran carries a mark of 28-6 along with 17 Kos to his name.
Burns is on quite a hot streak as he hasn’t lost since early in 2007. He’s riding a 21-fight winning roll at the moment. He won the interim version of the title back in November 2011 when he beat Australian Michael Katsidis by a unanimous decision. He’s quite tough and can take punishment as well as he can dish it out. However, he didn’t look to be at his best in his last bout, which was a win over Jose Gonzalez.
He admitted to being under par against Gonzalez, but said he’s looking forward to the challenge from Beltran and feels he’ll be at his best in front of his home crowd. He said he got past Gonzalez while he wasn’t at his best and he’ll be kicking things up a notch against Beltran.
Beltran learned the ropes by sparring with Manny Pacquiao in the past and he’s been improving with every fight lately, especially when he beat Ji-Hoon Kim and Henry Lundy. He’s lost several close decisions throughout his career and is still aiming at his goal of becoming a world champions. He says he knows it’ll be a tough and long fight against Burns and is ready for action.
Burns and Beltran’s boxing skills and hand speed are about equal, but Burns has slightly more experience in fighting tougher opposition. Burns is also better defensively, but he doesn’t carry as much power as the challenger. The champion is busier in the ring though by throwing more punches on average and also has an excellent chin. They both enter bouts in excellent shape and while Burns is naturally more aggressive Beltran is the more accurate puncher.
Burns has a good jab and right hand and can box well from the outside. He can also fight while pressing the action and take a punch to land one. He will have to control the action against Beltran and make sure he doesn’t take any rounds off. He’s got a slight reach and height advantage, but they probably won’t mean anything here.
If Beltran beats the champion to the punch he’s sure to gain confidence and could ride it out for a decision. Beltran often prefers to counterpunch though, but he should strike first if he wants to win the title and keep on throwing punches. This has all the tools for an entertaining bout and it should be a close one with Burns holding onto the belt by a relatively close decision.
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