Ricky Burns poised to get Terry Flanagan fight

By Boxing News - 12/17/2015 - Comments

Ricky BurnsBy Scott Gilfoid: If #8 WBO Ricky Burns (39-5-1, 13 KOs) wins his next fight on April 9th, he’ll be getting a world title shot against unbeaten WBO World lightweight champion Terry Flanagan (29-0, 12 KOs) in 2016, according to his manager Alex Morrison. Burns, 32, will be fighting a still to be determined opponent on the undercard of British/Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s next fight in April 2016.

Burns is supposed to be fighting for some kind of trinket in that fight, and from there he’ll be facing the 26-year-old Flanagan in his next fight, according to Sky Sports.

Burns has a nice little two-fight winning streak going since suffering three defeats in a short period of time between 2014 and 2015. Recently, Burns has beaten Josh King and Prince Ofotsu this year by knockout. Both guys are obscure fighters, but unfortunately I guess that’s what it took to stop Burns’ career hemorrhaging.

Omar Figueroa whipped Burns earlier this year in May in losing a 12 round decision, and then Dejan Zlaticanin and Terence Crawford beat Burns in 2014. On top of those fights, Burns arguably should have lost to Raymundo Beltran in 2013 in a fight that ended in a 12 round draw. Many boxing fans felt that Burns deserved to lose that fight too. As such, you can argue that Burns should have four defeats in the last two years. With a record like that, Burns is not exactly world title material, is he?

“Ricky’s stopped his last two opponents and we’ve been told that he’ll be fighting for a belt of some kind on the undercard of the Joshua bill,” Morrison said via the dailyrecord.co.uk. “If he comes through that then he’ll definitely be given a world title shot in the summer – probably against WBO lightweight champ Terry Flanagan.”

It is likely that Burns will not get a dangerous for his next fight on the undercard of Joshua’s next fight on April 9. I mean, if Burns is being pegged for a world title shot against the 5’9” Flanagan, then I really can’t see Burns being put in with someone that has any chance of beating him, because if that happens then he can forget about the fight against Flanagan.

I have no problems with Burns getting a title shot against the southpaw Flanagan near year. Nevertheless, I do think it is not a good match-up for Burns. I think Flanagan is fighting at too high a level right now for a fighter like Burns, and I can see this fight going badly for Burns. His promoter Eddie Hearn would be better off matching Burns against somebody else.

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I think a better match-up for Burns would be for him to fight WBA World lightweight champion Anthony Crolla. That would be a very winnable fight for Burns if he could take the fight to the light hitting Crolla and make the fight ugly. It would also give Crolla a chance for a winnable fight before he faces his #1 WBA mandatory Ismael Barroso and loses that fight by a likely knockout.

“This is great news for Ricky, especially since his bankruptcy order ends in March. This will be a fresh start for him,” Morrison said.

I can see the logic in Burns facing a devastating puncher like Flanagan. If Burns loses the fight, he will not take nearly as much criticism from the boxing fans compared to what he would take if the feather-fisted Crolla beat him. Suffering a loss to Flanagan would not hurt Burns’ career as a loss to Crolla would in my view. However, I still think Burns would be far better off fighting Crolla than a guy like Flanagan right now.

Flanagan is looking incredibly good right now, and it’s going to be nearly impossible for Burns to be able to get a victory over him. Heck, I think it would be a moral victory for Burns if he even made it the full 12 rounds with Flanagan.

It’s been a while since Burns beat a significant name in his career. He has lost all the major fights he has had since 2014, and I can’t see him turning things around with his career if he faces Flanagan next year.

Hearn might want to think about putting Burns in with another one of his struggling lightweights in Kevin Mitchell. He’s lost his last two fights by knockout to Jorge Linares and Barroso, and his career is looking like it’s on skid row right now. I think a match-up between the fading Mitchell and Burns would be a nice fight, as long as it is buried on one of Joshua’s undercards.



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