Burns – Beltran ends in controversial draw

By Boxing News - 09/07/2013 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: In what amounts to be a total robbery, WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2-1, 11 KO’s) was given a 12 round draw against challenger Raymundo Beltran (28-6-1, 17 KO’s) in a fight that Beltran appeared to win on Saturday night at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. The final judges scores were 115-112 for Burns, 115-113 for Beltran and 114-114 even.

Burns was knocked down in the 8th round from a left hook by Beltran, and dominated in the last 4 rounds of the fight. Burns should been disqualified for his constant holding but the referee allowed him to get away with it for some reason. Had the fight taken place in the U.S., it’s hard to imagine Burns not losing points for his holding. Beltran was rarely able to throw any punches due to the constant holding.

The draw enables Burns to keep his title, and he can move on to face other opposition.

Burns suffered an injured jaw in the fight. The reason Burns suffered a injured jaw was he was holding his guard up, because he was spending too much time holding onto Burns.

It’s highly unlikely that Beltran will get a rematch from Burns. You can bet that Burns promoter Eddie Hearn will choose to match Burns against IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez next. Hearn said a rematch with Beltran is possible, but he said Burns has obligations. In other words, don’t hold you’re breath waiting for Beltran to ever get a rematch with Burns. It’s going to be Burns facing Vazquez.

Beltran said after the fight “The referee was horrible. He [Burns] was holding too much. He wasn’t even giving him a warning. It’s bulls***! That belt is mine. I’m the champion. I want to fight him in America. If he’s a true champion he’ll fight me in America. Let’s do the fight in America. I’ve been getting robbed every time left and right. They don’t care. They protect their investment.”

Other boxing results on the card:

Stephen Simmons UD 10 David Graf
Scott Cardle pts 8 Gary Fox
Callum Smith KO 1 Kirill Psonko



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