Ricky Burns: record, next fight and profile →
Ricky Burns has been handed the chance to win a third world title. The Coatbridge fighter, who has won global honours at both super featherweight and lightweight, will face foreign opposition in the spring as he looks to make it a trio of triumphs at the top echelon of the sport.
RICKY BURNS is on a collision course with Jose Zepeda as he bids to regain his old WBO lightweight world title - and could face him in in London or Glasgow before the summer's end.
Ricky Burns (39-5-1, 13 KOs) could fight in a WBO World title final eliminator on April 9 in London. The Matchroom lightweight who had been linked to a European lightweight title fight against Edis Tatli could well face Jose Zepeda or Petr Petrov in April. "We're not taking that [Tatli] fight," Burns' promoter Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene.com on Monday. 'Scene contacted the Matchroom boss after the EBU (European Boxing Union) had set a deadline of today 12pm (Rome time) for purse offers for Burns and Tatli to contest the European belt sometime next year. "Ricky's now moved up high in the WBO (now ranked 3 with the WBO). So we'll be looking for a final eliminator on April 9. It's Petrov (ranked 2 with the WBO ) or Zepeda (ranked 1 with the WBO). I don't know what they're going to do at the moment so they're just working it all out and chatting internally."
Frank Warren has hit back at claims that one of his fighters is being lined up for Ricky Burns. The Hall of Fame promoter, who handles WBO lightweight world champion Terry Flanagan, has rebuffed the idea of Burns challenging the Mancunian for his global honour, providing the Coatbridge man wins in his next fight.
Ricky Burns will have the chance to fight for a world title in 2016 after his next fight was nailed down. The former two-weight world champion, 32, is set to return to the ring at the O2 Arena in London before a potential crack at another global honour. Burns (39-5-1, 13 KOs) has won world titles at both lightweight and super featherweight with the WBO and claimed the Organisation’s International title in his last fight, stopping Australia’s number eight-rated Josh King inside 11 rounds on the undercard of Callum Smith’s one-round British super middleweight title victory over fellow Rocky Fielding at the ECHO Arena.
Ricky Burns still has designs on returning to former glories and has outlined a potential route on which he could go to get there. The Coatbridge former two-weight world champion, 32, clinched the WBO International lightweight title in his last fight and believes that he can get back up to world level with the right guidance and the right fights. Burns (39-5-1, 13 KOs) has won world titles at both lightweight and super featherweight with the Boxing Organisation and is ready to make another assault on the global stage of the nine-stone nine division.
After the pulsating clash between Scotty Cardle and Sean Dodd beforehand, Liverpool’s Echo Arena had little to get into during the Ricky Burns-Josh King lightweight contest. Burns, a former two-weight world champion showed glimpses of what led him to glory and titles over the likes of Rocky Martinez and Kevin Mitchell and ended matters in the eleventh round with a wicked left hook to the body, a punch that the Scot looked for throughout.
Liverpool, England - Scotty Cardle showed a champion’s heart and resolve by successfully defending his British lightweight title in Liverpool tonight against Sean ‘Masher’ Dodd. After a messy and scrappy yet enthralling and absorbing contest Cardle stopped his opponent in the 12th and final round after the champion got the better of a vicious toe-to-toe exchange which saw Dodd stumble and fall backwards to the ropes. The courageous challenger, who many had ahead on their scorecards (two judges had Dodd in front), rose to his feet but referee Terry O’Connor waved it off after 1.58 of the final 180 seconds. Arguments are now out in force as to whether O’Connor should’ve given Dodd a standing count.
Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding both easily made weight ahead of Saturday's British super-middleweight title showdown. The pair clash in their hometown of Liverpool - live on Sky Sports - and Smith tipped the scales at 11st 13lbs 5oz [167.5-pounds], with underdog Fielding just two ounces lighter. Smith and Fielding then squared up to each other before nods of recognition and a few words were exchanged. Smith's trainer Joe Gallagher also appeared to address his counterpart Oliver Harrison.
Eddie Hearn has revealed to IFL TV that former two-weight world champion Ricky Burns, who faces Australia’s number eight-rated lightweight Josh King at the Echo Arena on Saturday, had been slated to face the former world title challenger Edis Tatli, from Finland, in a challenge for the European title last month.