By Ian S Palmer
The O2 Arena in London, England is the site of a big domestic British showdown on Saturday, October 26th when Scotland’s Ricky Burns takes Lee Selby of Barry, Wales. The 12-round lightweight bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office while fans in North America can catch the action on DAZN. Burns who last fought in November when he stopped Scott Cardle in the third round. Selby’s last fight was in February when he beat Omar Douglas by unanimous decision for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Lightweight Crown.
Burns became the first ever three-weight champion from Scotland in May of 2016 when he stopped Michele Di Rocco in the eighth round to win his super lightweight belt. He’s also a former junior lightweight and lightweight champ. The 36-year-old veteran climbs into the ring with a record of 43-7-1 with 16 Kos. Burns’ losses have been to Anthony Crolla and Julius Indongo by unanimous decisions in 2017 as well as Alex Arthur by unanimous decision in 2006, Carl Johanneson by unanimous decision in 2007, Terence Crawford by unanimous decision in 2014, Dejan Zlaticanin by split decision in 2014, and to Omar Figueroa Jr. in 2015 by another unanimous decision.
He also fought to a controversial 12-round split decision draw with Raymundo Beltran in 2013 in a fight many experts had Beltran winning. Burns’ only victories in the past couple of years have been against the likes of Cardle, Ivan Njegac, Kiryl Relikh, Di Rocco, Josh King, Prince Ofotsu and Alexandre Lepelley. He’s been a two-time super lightweight champ but has been taking on limited opposition lately. Burns stands 5-feet-10 inches tall with a reach of 70 inches. He’s not much of a power puncher as his current knockout ratio is just 31.4 per cent.
Burns turned pro in 2001 and has 392 rounds of pro experience under his belt. He’s undoubtedly a durable veteran though who’s beaten the likes of former and current champions such as Roman Martinez, Kevin Mitchell, Paulus Moses and Michael Katsidis. However, he’s not really in the Grade A or elite level as we found out when he faced Crawford, Figueroa and Indongo. He’ always in good shape and is a smart boxer though with a strong chin, but has been on the canvas before. He’s one of the best boxers to come out of Scotland but is now past his peak at this point of his career.
Selby is a former IBF won the crown by beating Evgeny Gradovich by technical decision in May of 2015. His first defence was a 12-round unanimous decision over Fernando Montiel and his second defence was against Eric Hunter in a fight he won by unanimous decision. He then beat Jonathan Barros by unanimous decision before beating Eduardo Ramirez by unanimous decision. He then lost his title to Josh Warrington by split decision in May of 2018. Selby’s a solid pro but naysayers feel he hasn’t proven himself against world class opposition.
The 32-year-old Selby enters the ring at 27-2 with 9 Kos and he was on a 22-fight winning streak until running into Warrington. Like Burns, there’s no hiding the fact that Selby doesn’t offer much in the way of power either with only nine stoppages to his name for a knockout ratio of just 31per cent. He stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69-inch reach and has fought 231 rounds since turning pro in 2008. He gives up 1.5-inches in height to Burns as well as an inch in reach.
Selby’s other defeat came against Samir Mouneimne via a four-round decision back in 2009. Other than Barros, Gradovich, Hunter, Montiel and Rendall Munroe, the champion hasn’t really fought anybody in the Grade A level. He won the title when Gradovich couldn’t continue after eight rounds in their bout because of a cut over his eye which was caused by an accidental clash of heads. The fight went to the scorecards with Selby ahead by a wide margin on tall three scorecards. Still, Selby’s beaten everybody but Warrington and Mouneimne so it’s hard to knock him.
Prediction…
Selby and Burns are both relatively light punchers with good chins so there’s a good chance this goes the distance. Their boxing skills are underrated by many and each boxer should have his moments. This should be an entertaining and close contest but I think the younger Selby will pull it out.
