By James Slater — It’s official: WBO lightweight king Ricky Burns will defend his title against London’s Kevin Mitchell on September 22nd. The fight will go ahead in Glasgow at an exact venue to be determined.
A potential classic, one that has been in the making for some time, Burns, 34-2(9) vs. Mitchell, 33-1(24) will attract some audience at the end of the summer. Having the look of pretty much a 50/50 affair, what with both men possessing superb boxing skills, a good case could be made for either fighter winning..
Scotland’s Burns is a couple of years older and, as has almost always been the case when the Coatsbridge man fights, he will have a height and reach advantage. Burns also has a great chin, he never having been stopped. Mitchell, as fans will recall, got pretty much blown away by Australia’s Michael Katsidis. However, Mitchell had a number of personal problems heading into that fight, which may or may not allow fans to give Mitchell the benefit of the doubt.In any case, Mitchell bounced back after that TKO loss – beating the tough John Murray in a real FOTY candidate. If we’re lucky, we will get as good a fight as that eight-round barnburner in September, or maybe will even be treated to an even greater fight. That’s asking quite a lot, but Burns and Mitchell have it in them to give us something truly memorable.
At this still early stage, I’d make defending champ Burns a slight favourite. “Rickster” has really come on and developed into a genuine world champion calibre fighter since upsetting Roman “Rocky” Martinez, looking strong, confident and classy in each subsequent fight. Even stronger-looking as a 135-pounder, Burns just might be too physically tough and too mentally strong for Mitchell.
But whoever wins, the action is sure to be compelling. It’s a cliche, but the real winners on Sept.22 will be those fans lucky enough to have a ticket (or access to BoxNation).
My early pick? Burns by close decision.