Last night in Glasgow, a fight took place between two genuine Scottish boxing heroes, as 40 year old former three-weight champion Ricky Burns fought former European Union, Commonwealth, British champ Willie Limond. Burns stopped his game opponent, now aged 44, when Limon was pulled out by the referee after the eighth round.
Burns, who always said he wanted to end his illustrious ring career with a win in Glasgow, is now 45-8-1(17). Limond, who announced his own retirement after the stoppage defeat, is now 42-6(13).
A large crowd showed up at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, there to support two of their heroes who have each given so much to Scottish boxing over the years. Burns, from Coatbridge, was the fighter with the most left and he was landing hurt on Limond, who hails from Glasgow. Burns, who has been in there with the likes of Terence Crawford, Kevin Mitchell, Michael Katsidis, Michael Gomez and others during his career, was too fast for Limond, soon bloodying his nose.
Burns was sharper, with Limond, who has shared a ring with Erik Morales and Amir Khan, trying to be the aggressor. A Burns uppercut broke Limond’s nose in the fourth round, the blood now all over the place. Burns landed another sickening uppercut to the head in round six and some fans were apparently calling for the fight to be stopped. Limond, never short on heart and guts, tried and tried but he was taking a beating in there.
Finally, after the eighth round had ended, the referee had seen enough, and he stopped the fight.
Limond confirmed he is “done,” while Burns says he is “happy to have got that final one in Glasgow,” while Burns did say he could fight again, “if the phone goes and it’s a decent fight.”
Burns, always a fighter to be in great physical shape, showed us last night that he does have quite a bit left to offer still, even at the age of 40.