Ricky Burns vs Jose Gonzalez + Undercard (round by round discussion)

[bravestone]

He was being so badly out-boxed in the first half of the fight that you'd have to criticise him. It would be ridiculous not to. Really and truly he only put Gonzalez under serious pressure in the 7th and he still lost that round.

He won because that round was enough to wear Gonzalez out, and against your typical world class opponent that wouldn't have been anywhere near enough. He gets credit for getting a win on the night, he loses credit for what overall was a case of his opponent losing the fight more than him stepping up and winning it.

Chelo proved he is world class though

[Tom Cruise]

Well what an interesting if ultimately disappointing fight.

First off for the most part Chelo impressed me a lot. We can say it was a bad performance from Burns all we like but this guy was a very very awkward guy to fight. Especially coming off a lay off like Burns has.

Second i think Burns has been so used to having a reach advantage that he hasnt really had to learn how to close the distance properly. The amount of times he was starting his attacks from too far out/ reaching for the target/ falling short was crazy, tbh you have to say that is an oversight on his teams part. A quick look at Gonzalez' stats would have shown them they needed to get inside his crazy reach (73" on a lightweight??). I still think Burns is a good fighter, not much more than that though.

Thirdly i have always stuck up for boxers who have stopped a fight due to injuries, see my posts on Victor Ortiz' so called quit, or Mikey Garcia's broken nose. However this time it really is hard to see his reasoning. He was handily winning the fight, even if he didnt win another round he had a chance of winning (not as it turned out but at the time), he wasnt taking much punishment, he was fighting out of both stances (so he could have switched to have his good hand as his lead hand and kept Burns at bay) and this is a WORLD TITLE FIGHT! I mean come on? Youve worked your whole life for this shot... Obviously mad respect for going into the lions den and taking on the champ, but this was his chance and i truly feel he has let himself down by stopping the fight. Even despite that though i want to see him fight again, he really impressed me like i said before.

So yeah, very lucky night for Eddie Hearn, John Simpson gets a gift and Burns gets schooled and escapes with a stoppage win lol

Oh and i ****in hate Jim Watt.

[The Hammer]