Ricky Burns motivated for June 27th fight against Dejan Zlaticanin

By Boxing News - 06/09/2014 - Comments

burns2By Scott Gilfoid: With three consecutive poor performances under his belt, #5 WBO Ricky Burns (36-3-1, 11 KO’s) is excited about getting back in the ring this month to face little known fringe contender #13 WBC Dejan Zlaticanin (18-0, 13 KO’s) for the vacant WBC International lightweight title in their fight on June 27th at the Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Burns has changed trainers from Billy Nelson to Tony Sims in hopes things will be better for him. It’s a classic move for Burns, as many fighters tend to change trainers once they start struggling in their careers, and it’s rare that the new trainers are able to do any better than the previous ones.

The only thing that seems to really have an impact on an aging fighters’ career is skillful match-making like what we saw last Saturday with Miguel Cotto being put in with an old lion with a couple of bad legs in Sergio Martinez.

“I have a real spring in my step for June 27,” said Burns via matchroomboxing.com. “I had some great nights over the years but I felt after the Crawford fight that it was time for a change and I have definitely got a new lease of life down in Essex with Tony. There are some huge fights out there for me. My last 10 fights have been for world titles and I am at home in the elite so I want to get back there as soon as possible.”

Burns will very likely have no problems beating the 30-year-old Zlaticanin, because this guy has been matched up against soft opposition during his entire 6-year pro career. We’re talking mismatch here. But as far as big fights go, Burns is obviously talking about him getting a crack at the WBC lightweight title against what many boxing fans see as the weakest link among the 4 lightweight champions in WBC belt holder Omar Figueroa. He’s definitely a beatable fighter if Burns’ promoter Eddie Hearn can get him a fight against that guy.

Hearn needs to make the move quickly before someone gets to Figueroa first. A fight between Burns and Omar Figueroa would be a tossup fight at this point because Burns has clearly lost a few steps in his last three fights against Jose Gonzalez, Raymundo Beltran and Terence Crawford. Burns arguably lost to Beltran, and he was on his way to losing to Gonzalez until he pulled off a miracle stoppage in the 9th round.



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