By Scott Gilfoid: On September 1st, WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (34-2, 9 KO’s) will be defending his title against #1 WBO Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24 KO’s) in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s going to be a hometown advantage fight for Burns, meaning that Mitchell is going to have to really whip the Scot if he wants to get the WBO strap.

I don’t see either of these guys as being very good, but Mitchell is a little less flawed than Burns. Mitchell should win this fight if he can keep Burns from tying him up all night long with clinches and arm bars. Mitchell is the stronger puncher, the faster guy, the better mover, the better defensive fighter and the smarter fighter in the ring. The only thing Burns has going for him in this fight is hometown advantage and a likely weight advantage of 10 to 15 pounds. Burns looks like a junior middleweight when he fights.

I’d be interested in to know how much Burns rehydrates to because in his last fight, he looked almost like a middleweight against Michael Katsidis and Paulus Moses. I don’t know how Burns makes weight, but he’s probably not going to be able to stay at lightweight for much longer. Of course, this gives Burns a good excuse not to have to fight the talented Adrien Broner, because if Burns can say he can’t make the lightweight limit anymore, then what can Broner say? Nothing. All he can do is grab another one of Burns’ straps and defend it a few times before moving up in weight to light welterweight.

Burns has got a major problem against Mitchell. He’s slower than him lacks the power to trade. He’s going to get humiliated if he tries to go toe-to-toe with Mitchell because he doesn’t have the tools to do this. Mitchell has been obliterated in the past by Michael Katsidis, but Burns doesn’t have the power to duplicate that performance.