by James Slater – Two “world” title bouts featuring British challengers suffered mixed fortunes today; as it has been reported that Jason Booth’s IBF super-bantamweight challenge of Steve Molitor, originally set for July, has been postponed due to an injury on the part of the champion, and Ricky Burns’ long awaited shot at WBO 126-pound champ Rocky Martinez is all set to go ahead on September 4th..
“Canadian Kid” Molitor, who broke a bone in his foot, thus making it totally impossible for him to meet Booth on July 23rd as planned, will now face “2 Smooth” on September 10th (venue to be announced). The Martinez-Burns fight, meanwhile, has been in the works for some time now, and at one point it looked as though Burns would face the WBO super-featherweight boss in his native Puerto Rico, but now the bout is all done for September 4th, and in Burns’ Glasgow, Scotland backyard, at that.
Both fights are potentially exciting affairs, and though both Brits will no doubt enter their respective bouts as underdogs, neither guy’s chances can be written off. Home country advantage can prove to be a big factor, and both Booth and Burns will enjoy this in September.
Booth, 32-years-old and 35-5(15) as a pro, has thus far made no official comments on how he feels the postponement will affect or not affect him, but 27-year-old Burns, 28-2(7) spoke about his upcoming fight at a press conference to officially announce the match.
“This has been dragging on a bit,” Burns said, with regards to the earlier, scrapped dates for the Martinez fight. “It is the biggest fight of my career, but I’m more than confident I can beat him. At the start [of negotiations], it was meant to be in Puerto Rico, then it was here, and then there were a few dates that fell through.
“But the date is now set and I have something to train for. I have ten weeks of solid training ahead of me, more than enough.”
To my way of thinking, the classy Booth has the better chance of winning a “world” title when it comes to he and Burns. Both guys will give it their all, naturally, but I think Booth is a level or two above Burns and has a good shot at upsetting southpaw Molitor. But Burns, against the unbeaten, hard-hitting Martinez,24-0-1(15) has what looks like a tough, tough night ahead of him.
Prediction-wise, I think Burns will get stopped, and the Molitor-Booth clash will go the distance. Can Booth get the verdict, though?