By Scott Gilfoid: Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24 KO’s) better be thinking knockout on September 22nd against WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (34-2, 9 KO’s) because I don’t see Mitchell winning a decision against Burns at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, in Glasgow, Scotland.

With Burns likely grabbing Mitchell all night long to slow the fight down to a crawl, it’s going to be tough on Mitchell to get his shots off. But more importantly, he’s going to have to make sure he really pounds the stuffing out of Burns if he wants to escape with a decision. I don’t see that happening, especially with Burns grabbing with clinches after he throws his shots.

Burns is good at immediately grabbing as soon as he throws his own shots. Referees are supposed to guard against fighters that use the old clinch and grab technique to avoid getting hit, but a lot of referees seem to have forgotten that part of the game and just lets guys clinch all they want. I think it’s sad. It’s like having speed signs that are ignored by motorists and not enforced by the police anymore for some reason. If Burns does a lot of grabbing and the referee just lets him do it, then Mitchell is pretty much going to be royally screwed unless he can find some power to clock Burns while he’s in the process of grabbing him.

What Michell needs is to practice working on developing power for his short punches that travel only six inches to a foot. That way if Burns has got his mitts all over Mitchell in a clinch, Mitchell can brain Burns with a shot right hand while being held. Heck, he might even be able to knock Burns out with some short punches like that. Burns will obviously return fire and it’ll be definitely ugly, especially if Burns is still got one arm wrapped around Mitchell when he’s hitting him. I hope Burns do that, because that would really mess up the marques of queensbury rules, wouldn’t it?